Due to the difficulty of the job, all rolls are at a -2. Special modifiers like the drop, or conccealment can be used to over come the -2 modifier.

Anyone can be the primary actor (roller), and others can assist. You can only be the primary actor (roller once during this phase)You do not need to be the primary roller for the scene you got to prep for! Feel free to mix it up

Remember cooperative rolls can apply, but they must make sense to the scene. So if the primary actor is going to use psionics to deal with the situation, others can also roll a skill that makes sense. Each success of a helper gives a +1 to the primary actor, the primary roller can only receive up to a +4 bonus from cooperative rolls. Note: This does differ from CORE.

So how do we do this?

GM will post 2-3 scenes for resolution

Players decide who will be primary actor, and if anyone will be assisting.

There are 8 scenes, so each player will be the primary roller in the scene.

Players wanting to assist can do so, but must assist only in 1 of the scenes posted at a time.

For example, three scenes are posted, someone wanting to assist could assist in 1 of those three scenes. When the next three scenes are posted they can assist once again in either of those three scenes.

Players post rolls and narrative based on the aforementioned rolls

GM may include a resolution post if needed but after rolls and narrative are made next scenes are posted.

The Sniper's Nest
Spade- Enemy card drawn
Firehawk takes care of the three snipers in the invisibility field no problem, they never had a chance. The snipers all wore armor and head gear each had a laser rifle and vehicular rocket launcher. Two look like burely men, and the third looks like a really short and skinny individual. As the short skinny one falls, the helmet clatters to the ground, revealing the face of a child, no more than 12 years of age. Shadows swirl around Firehawk making the rooftop mildly disorienting. A man seems to be starring right into the field from an adjacent building. His eyes are glowing dark red, clearly some kind of mindmelter that is focusing on firehawk!.

Firehawk

Its Danang all over, the same blank look, the same drool slipping from the mouth. A Kid holding a laser rifle! This could only be the work on one sadistic mindmelter named Charlie! But how? Didn't you see him get blasted... Or did you see what he wanted you to see.

Scene note

This scene can be resolved using the rules of quick combat at a -2 to your combat roll.

Remember cooperative rolls can apply, but they must be the same skill roll. So if the primary actor is going to use psionics to deal with the man across the way, others can also roll psionics to help. Each success of a helper gives a +1 to the primary actor

Anyone can be the primary actor (roller), and others can assist. Just remember you can only be the primary actor (roller once during this phase.

This scene does not have to be resolved with a quick combat at all to proceed forward. Leaving it unresolved has no immediate negative consequence.

Alarm: Recall their are three guards outside, any overt action against this mindmelter could have dire consequences. Stealth is your friend. Anyone can roll stealth at the standard -2 scene modifier, the building can give light to full cover (+2 or +4) depending on your narrative.

Note to Players

With the actions of Firehawk, some work on covering up his fiery outburst needs to be done. Again at a -2 scene penalty.

Guards Gift Wrapped either at the Loading dock or in th front(choice is yours)
Diamond- Fortune Card Drawn
Surprising or not it turns out the guards have a bit of German blood in them, and recognized Markus' voice from the Drie Marbles Left concert. The agree to be tied up as long as Markus gives them an autographed group photo of the entire band! During the job they are leaning up against the side of the building with a good length of rope at their feet. As you guys pass by they give a wink and nod.
With a slight german accent one of them whispers, " You guys better hurry, the Boss Vigo is on his way to do a surprise security check... But if you can manage it we left you something in the ally over there." One of the other tied up gaurds has tears streaming down his face, " That concert was so... So moving. Once we realized who was asking us for help, we had to find a way to pay you back." Over the gaurds radio a crackle voice comes forth, "Cshh... This is the Fin, what is your status Alpha?" The third gaurd looks sort of worried, " Oh man, Vigo is on his way now! You might have time to grab the Chromium Titan in the ally if you hurry, we'll let you in... Common!"[/ooc] From one of the walky talkies repeats, "This is the Fin, what is your status alpha, you guys better not be out in that Ally!? "

Scene Note

There is no complication at the scene if you want to just walk in to the AC.

You can try to get the Chromium Titan if you like and make it into the building before this Fin/Vigo character shows up.

Make your roll at -2, agility would be a good skill to use in this instance.

Chromium Titan is something you guys can either narratively describe helps you in a future scene, or it will be a sweet rocket launcher if not used.

Note to players

This scene has a few things that can be solved:

Obtaining the gift left behind

Dealing with the radio call

Possibly deal with a gaurd who comes by to check up on their radio silence

Arcane Signature 2.0
Club Drawn- Complication
The Lobby of the Arcane company is pretty busy and fairly huge. There are 3 ways out of the lobby, left, right, and the front door. Each way is guarded by a golem. The Lobby is very airy as the ceiling is about 2 stores high. On the second floor you see 2 soldiers with plasma rifles slumped against the railing looking down into the crowd gathered at the security desk. There is a line que for folks to get into leading to a security check before being able to walk around unrestricted. Several of the folks in line are grumbling about it not being standard procedure, and something must be wrong! Across the Lobby Diamond Clad is being escorted by a Sharkman into one of the many offices. Diamond Clad spies bane, and for a brief second Diamond Clad's shoulder plate glows blue. In Bane's mind he hears, "They found out that someone had stolen the current Arcane Signature, they are updating all profiles... The signature you received while has enough to get you by, it will not hold up under close scrutiny... All is lost... My daughter's soul..." The Exchange is cut short by the sharkman, " Clad get into the office, the Fin will have a word with you before the Fin checks on his boys out back." They enter the office of Viggo Rochek. It is clear the sharkman is referring to himself in the third person.

Viggo

Scene Note

Yup, things are going sideways. The current arcane signature you have will not be enough to get you by the security check point.

Roll modifier: This scene is at a -4 ( additional -2 due to the club), so primary roller just makes a roll at -4, those assisting using the same trait or skill are also at the -4.

This is a good time to checkout what you can do with a run benny, you guys have 20 total I believe. If using a run benny, declare it and narratively describe what happens. In this case using an exploit would be fine.

Its also a good time to be cooperative and plan a little for who is going to do what roll. Keep in mind you guys have 5 more scenes after these ones are resolved, 8 scenes and 8 players, each one of you will be the primary roller in one scene.

Player note

so this scene has a couple of things that can be resolved:

Primarily finding someway to get the new arcane signature, or at least getting the group into the registry of folks that work at the AC

Sniper's Nest wrote:
As the short skinny one falls, the helmet clatters to the ground, revealing the face of a child, no more than 12 years of age. Shadows swirl around Firehawk making the rooftop mildly disorienting.

Firehawk is momentarily perplexed by the sight of a human child in the employ of the AC, and stunned at the realization he just killed a child. His mind reels at this shocking turn of events.I thought that was a halfling under the armor...or maybe a chihuahua-bred dogboy. Wh-why would the AC hire children? There is no sense in this! Wh-what have I done...? Just then, Firehawk's vision dims and his mind swirls in turbulent eddies of unsummoned thoughts. Familiar thoughts...No. No that can't be! He looks again at the slain child, sees the familiar drool. Firehawk's head snaps up and scans the nearby rooftops, dreading who he might see.

Charlie wrote:A man seems to be starring right into the field from an adjacent building. His eyes are glowing dark red, clearly some kind of mindmelter that is focusing on firehawk!.

Firehawk's rage ignites when he sets eyes on Charlie the melter. Combined with the guilt and inner turmoil caused by killing the kid guard, seeing an old enemy he thought long dead causes Firehawk to lose his cool and suddenly the mission he is on becomes but a distant irritation in his thoughts as the red rage of vengeance takes him. To his credit, he is able to blurt out a quick warning to the rest of his team via radio, his voice thick with emotion, to warn them about what is going to happen next. "13th SET. This is Firehawk. Be advised these scum are using mind-controlled...children..to bolster their forces." His voice then hardens. "This will not stand."

Firehawk launches himself into the air and screams at Charlie. "YOU! YOU DEFILER OF CHILDREN'S MINDS! I SAW YOU DIE!! I. SAW. YOU. DIE!!" He positions himself roughly halfway between the 3 guards at the entrance (with a quick look to see if there were any more children among them) and the melter on the adjacent rooftop. His fiery aura then momentarily intensifies into an incandescent torch as he shuts his eyes and summons forth an immense amount of psionic energy from within. When he releases the built up power, two separate expanding shockwaves of fire engulf the guards at the entrance and Charlie on the rooftop.

OOC Comments

2 of these (Lyn Srial get 2 attacks), 1 against the guards, 1 against Charlie. If any of the guards are small enough to be children then Firehawk will try to only hit the adult guards with it. The idea is to stun/incap everybody, then swoop down and cut Charlie's head off before he can recover. Also, I'm not entirely sure if Firehawk's Mentalist Edge is applicable to the Stun power, but if it is then he would get an additional +2 to his psionics roll above.

Flaming Heat Shockwave - Greater Stun

Power Points: 4
Range:18/36/72
Duration: Special
Effect: Targets within LBT must make Vigor rolls at -2, -4 if a raise; roll of 1 or less Incapacitates target.
Trappings: Similar to the Expanding Heat Shockwave (By flash-frying the very air rapidly the hero can make the very air crack in a manner similar to thunder. Any target with unprotected 'ears' that fails their Vigor roll is also deafened by the rupture of their eardrums from the loud, fiery shockwave delivered via modified Flame Bolt.), the very air is flash-fried to produce an explosion. But this one is accompanied by fearsome fiery bursts of flame and smoke which has a demoralizing factor on the target(s). Any creature immune to fire is considered Fearless for the purposes of this power. Any character with any resistance to fire is considered to have a level of Arcane Resistance versus the power. But the average combatant must make Fear checks when hit with it. Creatures vulnerable to fire suffer their penalty to this roll.

Firehawk then dives at Charlie, his sword point forward, with murder in his eyes. The fiery residue from his attack that surrounds Charlie flares up intently as Firehawk's rage taps into his burster powers. "After tonight there will be no question! I will no longer leave it to children, like you prefer. Tonight I will take your head myself!"

Jude crouched with the others in the cover of a nearby building awaiting Firehawk’s signal that it was clear to cross the street toward the guards at the entrance to the Arcane Company. Their comm crackled, distorted a bit by the heat around the Lyn-Siral burster.

"13th SET. This is Firehawk. Be advised these scum are using mind-controlled...children..to bolster their forces. This will not stand."

Jude blinked. “Okay, Firehawk. Copy that. Just don’t do anything stu--” Jude watched as the Lyn-Siral landed in the middle of the street, out in the open. “Too late…” Jude trailed off as the burster let out a sonic boom that could be heard for blocks. Jude winced a bit as his comms adjusted to protect him from the noise, even at this distance.

“So that happened…” Jude commented. “We should get moving before reinforcements show up. And here I thought we had the front guards all nicely handled without violence,” he said with a sigh as he darted across the street.

Edited the initial GM post to include a small bit about the second floor security guys being slumped against the railing of the second floor. I beleive that Z intended you guys to go through the losing dock, and she had knocked out the second floor security guards with some kind of drug.

The head that hits the ground in spectacular fashion, shimmers briefly revealing at least a man's face this time, but one that is blank and that had clearly been mind controlled. Clearly not Charlie himself.
Laughter echoes in the wind as Firehawk's quarry has once again used his incredible powers to confuse and confound. In the minds of the 13 a warm and calculating voice echoes, " Little Hawk! I knew that was you at the concert last night... I made sure that child on the roof that you slaughter was your biggest fan! Oh please sir I would love to meet the man that did all those amazing flames. Hahaha... Till we meet again little Hawk!"
The secondary rooftop is empty except for you and another dead body. There is no immediate sign of Charlie.

Benny opportunity

We are in the narrative here, so if you want to find the real him I'll let you, or let him go and you get +1 benny for next quad.

Whether or not the guards at the front were playing you for time or not does not matter as they are unconscious with their radios occasionally chirping with someone named Fin asking hem to report in.

Firehawk's knuckles crack as he squeezes the grip of his sword in frustration when the dastardly mind melter's words finish echoing through his mind. Bastard! I will burn you to carbon the next time I see you!

As he realizes Charlie is gone, the red haze in his mind falls away and he ducks down and silently curses himself for putting the mission in jeopardy. Wincing, he keys open his radio, "The sniper's nest has been taken care of. The melter has escaped," he says, with obvious frustration in his voice. "I'll keep watch in the nest, call me if you need me." This last part is spoken in a subdued, almost regretful manner. He then flies back up to the nest to keep watch within the invisible field. When he lands in the nest he gathers the dead boy into his arms and holds him as he paces back and forth, keen to react to any alarms he may have set off with his attack.

While making their way into the building Zieja hears a tied up guard say, "You guys better hurry, the Boss Vigo is on his way to do a surprise security check... But if you can manage it we left you something in the ally over there."

One of the other tied up guards has tears streaming down his face, "That concert was so... So moving. Once we realized who was asking us for help, we had to find a way to pay you back." Her eyes roll and she chuckles, we did do a good job.

Z hears a crackle on the guards radio, a voice comes says, "This is the Fin, what is your status Alpha?" The third guard looks sort of worried, "Oh man, Vigo is on his way now! You might have time to grab the Chromium Titan in the ally if you hurry, we'll let you in!"

The radio repeats, "This is the Fin, what is your status, Alpha, you guys better not be out in that Ally!?"

What the hell is in the ally?

Z lifts up the radio and holds it up to the guard in front of her, "Talk. Tell this Fin that you are not in the ally and all is well."

"Alpha checking in. All is well boss. Copy"

Zieja sets the radio back down.

Pulling her hoodie up over her head, Zieja says, "Be right back."

Instantly she disappears from sight.

Zieja, invisible and with boosted speed (pace 30) races out into the ally and grabs up the item left there by the guards. Raising an eye brow she says, "Ooookay." Then grabs it up and races back into the building with the others.

Setting the "Chromium Titan" down for a moment she looks at the tied up guards, "Seriously?" Shrugging she continues, "I'll take it. Ha. Okay, lets hurry everyone. I saw who I assume was Fin outside getting closer. I'll carry the "CT" for now. Let's go!"

Jude Maverick wrote:Jude blinked. “Okay, Firehawk. Copy that. Just don’t do anything stu--” Jude watched as the Lyn-Siral landed in the middle of the street, out in the open. “Too late…” Jude trailed off as the burster let out a sonic boom that could be heard for blocks. Jude winced a bit as his comms adjusted to protect him from the noise, even at this distance.

“So that happened…” Jude commented. “We should get moving before reinforcements show up. And here I thought we had the front guards all nicely handled without violence,” he said with a sigh as he darted across the street.

Seeing Jude run across the street Zieja instantly follows without thinking. Too many raiding drills, follow the man in front of you. Move out, stay close, Commandos act! It was drilled in her head. As she followed she reflected on Firehawk's and Jude's words, son of a bitch. Seriously, we don't need the guards to call reinforcements!

Stepping out from behind Jude, Z sprints across the street, suddenly her pace increases and she is bolting across. Seeing a dead guard Zieja skids to a stop before the dead .. child? What the?

Picking up the radio she says, almost in a child's voice, "Be advised...um, the noise out here is from fireworks....I think that people are celebrating the concert from last night with fire works. Nothing to report, uh, all calm out here."

Zieja enters the building with the others, moving to stand before the other Security Officers, Zieja groans, "Seriously, I have been working for the AC for like .. months, and now we are going to redesign how we do things...am I right?" Leaning on the desk before the security guards she has her elbows on the counter and is rubbing her temples. As a side note, she is leaning forward and looking at the officer in front of her. Her cleavage is presented to the officer. "I can't stand it when things go awry - you?"

Looking across the room she seems dissatisfied with the change in procedures and is giving the guard in front of her quite the look at her chest. Groaning she looks at the guard in front of her, "Are you looking at my...are you listening to me? Here, rekey my card please..."

Damn, this is not good! I'm going to need you to get him out of his office so I can have some ability to get into his office so I can recover her soul jar. Bane thinks to himself hoping that Diamond heard his thoughts. In a low voice, he tells the rest of the group "I'm going to send the rest of you guys on ahead while I get this sorted out down here, then I am going into Viggo's office when the coast is clear to do so in order to recover Crystal's Soul Jar for Diamond. I'll meet you guys on the other side of this. Good luck and happy hunting. Blend into the crowd for a moment while I change our appearances."

While people walk past them, Bane quietly casts Mass Disguise on the members of the 13th only to make them appear as a work crew with a security detail (Z).

Spellcasting Mass Disguise 9

1d10 = 2: 2
Wild Die 1d6 = 6: 6Ace![Color]
Wild Die Ace 1d6 = 3: 3

Bane walks up to the security counter, cutting in line to the desk and telling the person behind the desk "Hi, I'm terribly sorry about this, but I just found out that Viggo the Fin wants me and my team up stairs on the 4th floor for an emergency check up on one of the projects, and he needed us there 15 minutes before calling me. I heard about the problems with the Arcane Signatures, which is why he assigned us a security escort until we are able to get ours straightened out. Now, I hope you are able to let us through and avoid upsetting Viggo any more than he already undoubtedly is right now, not to mention extremely busy. Can you let me and my group through?"

Jude frowned as Firehawk checked in again. “Negative, Hawk,” Jude said. “We need you with us. You won’t be able to get to us if we’re down in the vault and things go pear-shaped. The sniper is taken care of. Charlie will wait. Get your head in the game and we’ll deal with him later.”

Jude shook his head. Of all times for someone to lose it.

Persuasion 11

1d10+7 = 11: 4 1d6+7 = 10: 3

***

Jude and Zieja made it up to the guards that had been tied up. “And I think you won’t be needing these,” Jude said. He grabbed the ID badges off of the guards. “No time to alter them, but we’ll make do.”

Agility 4 Success

1d8-2 = 4: 6 1d6-2 = 2: 4

***

Jude caught himself staring as Zieja used her feminine wiles. Damn…

He was shaken out of his fantasies by Bane’s new information.

“Crystal…” Jude breathed. Had he been careless? Had he compromised her somehow?

Jude scanned the lobby, the chatting Zieja. Good distraction. But maybe they needed more, especially if Bane was going for something this Fin guy had.

Jude sauntered around the edge of the room. He stopped by the fire alarm and leaned down to “secure his boots”. Then he stood up, stretched, yawned...and yanked on the alarm.

Jude made his way back to the security checkpoint, where the guards, distracted by Zieja, were now surprised by the sudden panic, jostled and jolted by the fleeing crowd. Jude let himself be slammed into one guard and deftly lifted the handheld card programmer from him before it fell to the floor.

Primary actions used up: Firehawk, Bane and Z
Please try to limit your cooperative rolls to once in the next three scenes.
Second Floor Special Forces asleep!
Diamond Draw-Fortune
Their is general panic and comotion in the Lobby as the firealarms go off. With a mixture of, cunning, guile, theft, and magic the team works their way through the impromptu security check point, that at this point is frantaclly calling on their radios for reinforcements. They seem overwhelmed by the sheer number of folks trampling each other. One of the lobby gaurds yells into his radio, Damit, get your asses down here, break your freaking specials out and get down here! Respond dammit or I'll come up and get them myself. One in each hand I'll make short work with whomever set off that fire alarm!" The gaurd starts pushing his way through the crowd to the elevator. On the second floor balcony the two special force gaurds remain slumped in their watchful position.

Scene Note

Apparently the special force gaurds keep 2 special weapons in their security room. With the second floor gaurds all incapacitated at the moment, now, if you want, is the time to take a quick side quest to steal them.

The Specials

Pick two personal weapons, and roll twice on the HJ table (for each weapon) appropriate for them for added benifits. Reroll if it gives another weapon.

Scene modifier is -2

Player note

Somethings to over come in the scene might be, beating the eager gaurd to their office, unlocking the case that holds these weapons, helping calm the panicked individuals in the lobby.

Golems Dystroyed
Diamond Card draw-Fortune
Admist all the panic the fire golems awaken and start droning, " Please make to the nearest exit... Please make to the nearest exit..." Then all of a sudden they all stop moving, two of them fall apart, and the third one crashes mostly intact into the arcane portal that leads to the red vault. This only incites the lobby crowd into further panic. Interestingly enough, one of the golem hands, turns out to be covered in a red rock gauntlet that clatters to the ground. This item seems covered in arcane sigils and could very well be the item that gives the golems the power to smite their foes. It is being kicked every which way by the unaware feet of the panicked lobby crowd. It would seem four small children have also spied it, and despite their gaurdians protests are now chasing the freewheeling item arround. Their is a brief lull in the crowd and children dart out for the red gauntlet... As long as you are not an Apok from the Wood, to your chargrin, you see the lull is being caused by a speeding go cart barreling through the crowd transporting one of the callous AC executives out of the building. This has put the self serving executive on a collision course that will not only crush the red gauntlet, but take out the kids!

Scene Note

So if you want the red gauntlet, go for it, but will you save it or the kids, or perhaps both. Scene modifier is at -2

Player Note

Some things players can to in this scene... Take out the AC executive, save the children, grab the gauntlet, help pacify the crowd.

Barely Functioning Portal
Club Card draw- complication, the scene modifier is at a -4

So lady luck frowned slightly and a golem crashed into the arcane portal. It looks like it cracked one of the protals arcane fastners that kept the water like substance of the portal tempered and smooth. Its normal calm pool of water is now a raging torrent that only a master of the arcane arts or perhaps one with psionic prowess could temper. Daring to go in while the pool is so distrurbed would surely be suicide. If you do not want to chance it, you have to ask yourself, does one of the gaurds know an alternative way down? Sure they are busy mollifying a panic induced crowd that only Dres Marbles Left could be thought to incite, but if you asked, tackled, cajoled nicely or meanly enough they might just help you out. You all do notice the sweet elevator as well, while Vector did not give you any indication that the elevator went to the red door maze who knows unless you check it out and hack the system. To make matters worse there is an arm sticking out of the portal, it is seems at the same moment the golem crashed into the portal someone was trying to come through it. Two of the 13th recognize the distinctly female arm, perhaps it is the jewlery on the finger tips, or the way the arm glistens just so...

Scene Note

So this scene is at a -4 to all rolls. You probably want to save whom ever is stuck in the portal even if you seek an alternate route down

Player note

so to fix the portal you will need some kind of arcane or psionic roll. Alternately you can try to uncover another way down. Maybe the elevator has a hidden secret, or a guard could be pressed into telling you. Also a damsel in distress is caught in the broken portal. Someone might want to pull her out.

The office of The Fin
Anyone coming here cannot be a main roller in the above three scenes, secondary helper yes, but main roller nope.

Viggo the fin, everyones favorite sharkman takes Diamond clad into his office. The fin quickly surveys the commotion outside his office with a snear on his face. His eyes in that moment are glowing bright green. His office door is glass, mostly see through. Getting close to the door you can hear him talking to Diamond Clad." The Fin sees the job is off to a rowdy start. Your guy better be this good Clad."
Diamond Clad sits in a chair his hands are covering his face in worry. " Libertas, will come through. That boy is a singularly gifted techno wizard. He will be able to figure out those safey protocols Rene put into place."
Viggo the Fin raises a shark eye, " Something even you could not do, even for this...". The Fin pulls a jar from his pocket, it is glowing green with some kind of necromantic energy.
Diamond clad lunges for the jar, but Viggo smacks him to the ground with a backhand, Viggo laughs " Yes I know those Razorback Spiders would not let you close enough to try... As for your daughter, she will be released shortly, your part in this is almost--" . Viggo looks at the doorway, his eyes flash green and then violet, he smiles and clicks a button on his table opening the door.
Viggo the fin boastfully says, "Come into the the Fins office...".
The office is imaculate and well kept. Nothing stands out of the ordinary except a figurine of ultimax robot armor standing on the desk. It looks like an exact replica 1/100th scale except it has weird crystals and arcane symbols on it. He holds out the soul jar to whomever comes in, " You will be wanting this of course. And of course there is a trick to releasing the soul so she does not become a walking undead monstrosity. We of course will reveal it when you complete the job." He laughs tossing the jar to the member of the 13th, " Rene and her precious AC will be finished after this fiasco. Many important folks from the city were here today, you did well in exposing the ineptitude of their petty organization.". He also hands the members of the 13th a scroll. "Read this and it will get you back to your companions in the maze. Head over to the radio station to drop off the ledgers. You'll get your payment and the secret to unlocking that soul then." . Viggo sits into his chair effectivly dismissing you as if you were some lacky. Viggo flexes his fists," I have some more to discuss with Clad, if you do not mind shutting the door on your way out.". Diamond looks up at you with a pleading look, but afraid to say more infront of Viggo.

Scene Note

Nice job on unlocking the bonus scene, feel free to RP a bit here, just keep in mind you are on a job. If you are at Viggos office, you cannot also be a primary roller. Any rolls here are also under the -2 scene penalty.

Disguised by Bane's spell as a member of the security detail, Cantrell hears the lobby guard hollering for back-up. Her ears perk up even more when he mentions "special weapons" upstairs. As he moves toward the stairwell, she moves to intercept, surreptitiously drawing her particle beam pistol.

"I'll come with you," she says, coming up behind the guard as he pushes his way into the stairwell. Before he can turn, she presses her gun into his side, low where his saggy gut pushes out beneath the chestplate of his armor. She squeezes the trigger, aiming up so the blast vaporizes his internal organs but is contained within his armor. The dead guard belches smoke, then slumps. As panicked employees flee down the stairs, Cantrell swings the corpse into the corner beneath the stairs.

<<Markus, the spec ops soldiers upstairs should be taken care of, but why don't you head up there to see what kind of toys they had squirreled away? Maybe find something fun for you and me to play with>> she says over her comm, before rushing to the other stairwell to take care of the golems.

With her pistol already out, Cantrell's HUD locks on to the obsidian constructs as soon as she rounds the corner. One shot, two shots, three, each one erasing the shem inscribed at the back of a golem's mouth. Lifeless, the guardians collapse, two shattering into shards of rapidly-cooling black glass while the third remains mostly intact. She spots the sigil-covered gauntlet, the kids and the executive go-cart careening toward them all at once. The servos in her armor whine as she dashes forward, pistol spitting subatomic particles through the crowd, each shot flying over, under and around the bystanders to land exactly where she wants it.

The first vaporizes the right front tire of the cart, sparking a course change that sends it careening toward the packed stairs. As it zips past, she plants a second shot in the renegade exec's head, causing another shift in direction as his body slumps over the wheel. Her third and fourth shots strike the nearby plexi-plas window, weakening it enough for the cart to smash through and sail out into the empty street below.

An armor-assisted leap takes her over the children to land on the other side, arms outstretched to shield them from the crowd.

"I'm afraid that's not a toy for kids," she says, scooping up the arcane gauntlet and stowing it on one of the mag-clips on her back. I wonder how much Libertas will give me for this thing? she thinks, before walking the kids toward the stairs, making sure they don't get trampled.

"I tell you what, if you go downstairs, there's a very nice red-headed man who will give you each $50 credits for doing such a good job exiting the building. Do you think you can do that for me?"

Last edited by Cantrell on Wed Sep 20, 2017 11:08 am, edited 2 times in total.

"Don't worry, guys, I should have this one, piece of cake." Libertas steps up to the stuck portal and gets to work. It's second nature to him--the portal practically tells him what to do to fix it, the parts seeming to know where they want to be.

A moment's work, and he's pulling on that hand to get her with them. "Don't worry, we're dealing with everything; Bane's getting your dad, too."

Q1/19 Adventure Cards: Seize the Day - The character acts as if he had drawn a Joker this combat round.Lucky Break - Play this card to completely negate the damage from one attack.Mechanical Malfunction - A device malfunctions in some way: guns jam, bow strings break, etc. The device can be fixed by a Repair roll at -4 and 10 minutes work.Epiphany - Something you never understood before suddenly “clicks.” You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Enemy (PLAYED Q2-18): Get a Personal Nemesis. Until resolved, draw one extra Adventure Card each Session.

“You got her?” Jude asked, actual concern in his voice as Libertas pulled Crystal from the portal. He pulled her to him and gave the platinum blonde a kiss. “Get outside and get somewhere safe,” he told her. “I’m going to go help your dad.” He glanced over toward Viggo’s office where Diamond was talking animatedly with the sharkman, looking rather pale.

Jude wove through the crowd, following Bane as the D’Norr made his way into the office.

"Come into the the Fin’s office..." Viggo said arrogantly.

“Really? Referencing yourself in the third person? How gauche,” Jude said. He noted the odd figurine on the desk, but his attention was immediately taken by the jar Viggo held.

"You will be wanting this, of course. And, of course, there is a trick to releasing the soul so she does not become a walking undead monstrosity. We, of course, will reveal it when you complete the job."

Viggo tossed the jar to Bane.

Jude flipped over to a private comm. “Bane, you got that? Can you...figure out the trick yourself, in case he doesn’t fulfill his bargain?” he asked the ley line walker. He cared for Crystal, it was clear.

"Rene and her precious AC will be finished after this fiasco. Many important folks from the city were here today. You did well in exposing the ineptitude of their petty organization." Viggo boasted.

The sharkman handed Jude a scroll. "Read this and it will get you back to your companions in the maze. Head over to the radio station to drop off the ledgers. You'll get your payment and the secret to unlocking that soul then."

Viggo sat in his chair dismissively, flexing his fists. "I have some more to discuss with Clad, if you do not mind shutting the door on your way out."

Jude glowered at the sharkman and leaned over. “You had better keep your end of the bargain, sharkman, or I’ll see you get turned into soup. If you doubt our abilities, just call up the Coalition’s Sixth Mobile Heavy Infantry, see what they have to say about us. If you can find anyone left alive.”

Jude backed away slowly, keeping the sharkman’s gaze. Behind his back, his hand closed on the figurine of the robot armor.

The scene on the ground floor just through security is absolute chaos. Somebody drove a go-kart through the hallway and nearly mowed a kid down. Then the call goes out to grab some goodies from the second floor. Max hits the radio. "Top Dog, I'll fetch those goodies from 2. Hang on."
Finding a stairwell across the hall from the chaotic crowd, Max ducks through the door and sprints upstairs. Edging the door open, he peeks around and finds the 2nd floor hallway empty. Guess everyone's working the fire. Max is working the fire sale! I'm such a good boy.
He shuffles quickly down the hallway to the security door.
Locked! Electronic security control. Obviously.Fleas and ticks! How am I gonna get through...GOT IT!

Repair

Repair -2 scene, +2 cooperative bonus 1d8 = 6: 6

Wild die Repair 1d6 = 6: 6

Ace wild die with prior result 1d6+6 = 11: 5

Benny for extra effort with Elan and prior result 1d6+13 = 16: 3

Max jimmies his vibrosword into the panel and, with a swift strike, lops the cover off. From there, a few stripped wires and a broken circuit board later, ZZZZZTT! The door to the security office slides open, revealing a couple guards propped up at their stations. Max prepares to cut them down, but they don't react at all to the opening of the door. They are unconscious. Lucky! He looks around and, on the far wall behind them, rest two wall-mounted weapon cases. "Specials. HA! These puppies are mine!" He moves swiftly to the cases only to find...Freaking locked! I'm not wiring these...wait! Biometric scanners. Surely these mutts are coded in. He grabs the arm of one of the comatose guards and prepares to try scanning his fingerprints. Then he notices the brand. OTOSo, you're one of those crazies? He finishes the scan and hears the locking mechanism trigger. Max unceremoniously dumps the guard back into his chair and prepares to collect the goodies. But as the guard slumps lower in the chair and falls, something clatters onto the ground. Coming to rest at Max's feet is a cred stick marked "Orphans".
Max's ears flatten and his hackles rise. "Robbing kids?! RRRRRARRRRGGH! RRRRRGH!" Max's temper gets the best of him, and he begins slugging the already unconscious guard in the midsection. Fists, feet, and a knee drop find their mark before he regains control of himself. "I oughta rip out your throat, but you aren't awake to feel it." He snarls one more time at the comatose guard and returns his thoughts to the task at hand. He picks up the credstick and puts it in his pocket to make sure it gets back to the orphans."The good stuff. I hope this mongrel gets the blame for letting it get repossessed." He shoves his foot at the guard on the ground and lifts a NG-LG6 rifle with grenade launcher out of one case, and a TX-26 particle beam pistol out of the other. Satisfied with his gains, he shoulders the rifle and makes his way back to the staircase he came from."Nobody beats me at fetch. Got some presents for you, Top Dog."

Epiphany: Something you never understood before suddenly "clicks." You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Boom! Head Shot: You may ignore any Called Shot penalties on your next ranged attack.Rally: Play to cause all allies in sight/hearing to immediately lose their Shaken status.

Almost six months on the force, partnered with Lt. Pelecus Gryphon had turned up enough evidence to take down the Arcane Company's Underboss, Viggo Rocheck, a.k.a. Viggo the Fin. They had a nighttime raid set up in the Docks district. Lt. Gryphon was alone on a pier with support poised and ready to spring into action the second they saw Viggo.

All of the sudden Viggo's body flies from the water on one side of the pier, sailing right over the lieutenant, biting his arm and about a quarter of his upper chest including a part of his lung. Bane rushed out immediately to his partner as he violently coughed and spit up blood. He knelt over his partner as he tried to speak.

"Tell my wife... *cough cough* Tell her that I love her, and promise me... *cough cough* promise me that if you ever *cough cough* ever get the chance, to kill that son of a bitch!" Pelecus' eyes gently close as the shock over takes him and his lungs filling with blood make it impossible to breathe.

Seeing Viggo standing there brought back memories unbidden from that horrible night, but he suppresses his emotions as he reminds himself that this was not the right time or place as the Magic Null Field in Viggo's office would neutralize any advantages he would have had.

Bane snaps out of his reverie when Viggo almost casually tosses the jar to him. Holding it in his hands, turning it over to inspect it, it takes Bane a couple of moments to fully realize what that meant. It meant that the Magic Null Field had to have been deactivated so as to not ruin the enchantments on the jar.

Bane drops it into his pouch and almost on instinct, Bane gathers msytical energies stored within him and forces it out of his body as a powerful bolt of sunlight aimed right at Viggo's toothy maw.

Jude wrote:“Negative, Hawk, We need you with us. You won’t be able to get to us if we’re down in the vault and things go pear-shaped. The sniper is taken care of. Charlie will wait. Get your head in the game and we’ll deal with him later.”

Firehawk hears Jude's words over the comm and replies, "Yes....yes of course. I will be right down." With tears in his eyes he gently lays the body down and folds the dead boy's hands across his chest. With one last look, he then leaps off the roof and lands softly next to the rest of the 13th as they entr the building.

Fire Golems
Secondary Actor

Upon seeing the massive fire golems begin to activate, Firehawk readies his sword for combat. However, as he starts to move forward Cantrell's pistol spits coherent energy expertly at the constructs, destroying them with little effort.

Cantrell wrote:"I tell you what, if you go downstairs, there's a very nice red-headed man who will give you each $50 credits for doing such a good job exiting the building. Do you think you can do that for me?"

"Come, children. I will show you the way." Firehawk then gathers the children in his arms and escorts them downstairs to safety.

Quick Combat Time ( A little break from the Job to settle some quick combat)

Through crook, hook, killing, growling, beating, stealing, repairing and good old fashioned sun-fire the 13th has managed to overcome the broken portal, get some guns, save some children, and obtain Crystal's Soul. A job well done, but things are about to go south superfast!

Inside Viggo’s office:

Nothing says bbq sharkman, like a sunbolt to the face. Except instead of a well grilled shark, Viggo smiles as he is incinerated, and the room bends with space time as he winks out of existence. All that is left of him is a small brass ring that clatters to the ground.
Diamond Clad rubs his jaw, and stands next to his rescuers. His brow is furrowed in concentration. He mutters, “ That was unexpected... But perhaps makes some sense. Temporal Magic… I have heard rumors of evil despots called Temporal Raiders willing to teach those of a despicable like mind their unique sorcery.” Jovial Diamond Clad claps Bane and Jude on the shoulders, “ So it would seem Viggo was working against Rene and the Arcane Company. To what ends I wonder… I never did feel his leash belonged to Rene. Well whatever that was, we got Crystals soul and I am sure we can find a way to release it without turning her into something unnatural, you have my thanks…” He smiles slightly talking to himself, “ So all those bread crumbs, hidden clues… I should have known Rene in her way knew what was going on and was trying to help...” His voice trails off when he spies the bronze ring on the ground. He seems very shocked and whispers, “ The secondary measures… Rene, Crystal!” He looks at both of you, “ The ring there, it is the key, well holds the key, to the secondary security measures in the red door made… Viggo must have turned them on before coming up to gather me. He went down with…” Diamond makes a break for the door crying out, “ Rene… Crystal!!!” His cries are stopped short as a bolt of blue energy hits him in the chest. For a moment his age seems increased to the very ends of his life, and suddenly he snaps back to his normal age. He drops to the floor holding his chest crying out for Crystal. “ Please… Please… Save Rene and Crystal.”

Jude

You notice the bottom of the ultimax doll has a series of gears, and other clockwork like complications that form an intricate lock. There is a red ruby, that is softly glowing near what looks like a keyhole. The lock seems exceedingly complex, and you would imagine could take weeks to crack without the key. The doll also weighs in at about 30lbs

The bolt that struck DC came from another Viggo coming through the front door with 6 well armed security officers ( Their badges say 5th floor and the building only has 4 floors). Another Viggo comes through the hallway entrance that would lead to the loading dock with dockworkers armed with vibro weapons and laser pistols. Both sneer and work with the 5th floor guards, on clearing out the panicking crowd in the Lobby, not by sweetly escorting them out, but by using alternative methods such as laser-fire. The Viggos laugh in unison when they spy DC on the floor" Take out anyone trying to get through that portal!" They weave temporal spell after temporal spell, appearing in multiple places at once crushing heads, snapping spines of panicked AC workers, city officials, and just your random Joe. The children with Cantrell and Firehawk scream bloody murder as a third Viggo appears out of a hold in space time ready to bash heads and suck folks into a wormhole! Another Viggo ( This makes 4) teleports in right near Libertas, Crystal, and the portal down. This Viggo looks like he is getting ready to take a big chomp out of the two while they discuss what Crystal saw in the red room maze.

What Libertas and Crystal discuss just before they get chomped on

Amidst all the chaos and confusion, Crystal hangs tightly to Libertas. Her hair looks like it has seen the bad side of a static cling bomb. She is breathing hard, and her face looks ashen. Apparently being trapped between places is not a comforting thing. Libertas can tell the portal is functioning for now, but an errant blast from laser fire or temporal magic may knock it out of commission for good. Crystal hugs Libertas tightly, “ Thank you Libertas, I am truly glad for the first time you actually paid attention in my father’s classes.” She looks at the portal and frowns, holding her shoulder from which some of her skin is peeling. She winces slightly. “ Viggo, Rene, and I went down to the red maze. I insisted to go along because I wanted to know if any changes to the security layout were being made. Fortunately not… But Viggo left us halfway through… When Rene and I got to the Red Vault, something attracted the Razorback spiders.” She rubs her should again, anyone with enhanced smelling would be able to tell she gives off a distinct smell from that shoulder, arcane in nature, and it could attract and insight animals into a frenzy. “Maybe Viggo did something to my shoulder, they say he is a powerful walker, I am not sure what happened to it, but they came at us. Rene fought them off, and even saved my life at her own peril. She is a hero! Rene went into the red vault, letting me know she would get to the bottom of what is going on at her company. Somehow she knew Viggo had betrayed her, or maybe it was more like she was expecting him too.” Crystal ducks under some laser fire throwing herself into Libertas’ arms, “ When Rene went inside the vault that is when something really bad happened… The vault turned from Red, to White and she could not get out… I did not know what to do, and the spiders were coming back, they were so frenzied… I ran, back to the maze… Someone had triggered the secondary security measures for lock-down, I barely got through. Dark anomalies were everywhere… That is not even the worst part, there are 4 thunder golems! I almost did not make it.” She looks up at Libertas staring deep into his eyes, she looks rather beautiful with a backdrop of people dying and laser blasts flinging around the lobby. “I know you guys are going down to get the credits for those orphans, but you have to promise to help Rene get out of the vault… There is only so much air inside it, and she does not deserve a fate like that.”

Welcome to Quick Combat: The 13th vs Viggo the Fin ( plus 6 security gaurds, and 6 dock workers)Scene Modifier: -4 ( normal scene mod, and an additional -1 from each complication drawn for the red room)!)
Quick combat rules: Make your one roll to interact with the scene minus the above modifier ( If it is casting bolt, you roll spell casting... Damage is not needed. If shooting your weapon just roll shooting with the any applicable modifiers including the scene modifier above ). Usually this roll is some kind of combat roll, but be creative if you like.

There is no initiative order, just make your post and use your roll to narrate how well you do. Try to leave something for everyone

a crit failure means you have received 1d3 wounds, and were not able to help the group succeed. Perhaps though, your defeat was epic.

failure you received 1 wound. You might have had some impact but you also were wounded in the process.

success, You did a good Job, maybe not a legendary victory, but you did what was required to save the day.

Success with raise(8), Wow! Did you write the book on how to be a legend? Bards will be singing songs for years to come about what you did this day. You certainly shined during this combat.

How you succeed here will determine how many innocent bystanders survive, and the manner in which you all arrive at the Red Room Maze.

Libertas comforts Crystal as best he can, checking to see if a quick jolt from the Bee Well Stinger will help her shoulder burn while she's talking about what happened. As she finishes her story, he nods. "Of course we'll get Rene out, too. Big damn heroes, and all that, you know?" He smiles and nods reassuringly... then blinks as a sharkman with a bad attitude shows up. "Oh, shit on a crap sandwich with diarrhea toppings, can't we catch a break? Fine... Let's do this!"

He begins furiously spinning the puzzle-box as he and Crystal try to avoid Viggo(4)s attacks, spinning off one clockwork soldier after another. In order to avoid collateral damage to the portal, he opts for close combat specialists--BeatBots and BerserkerBots, one planted anyplace Viggo moves to, slowly wearing the sharkman down with sheer numbers. As the 'Bots prepare some shark-fin soup, Libertas gets on the radio. "Lib checking in. Crystal and I are good here, but when we hit the vault, we gotta figure out a way to get Rene out of there, too--she got locked in by that bastard."

Q1/19 Adventure Cards: Seize the Day - The character acts as if he had drawn a Joker this combat round.Lucky Break - Play this card to completely negate the damage from one attack.Mechanical Malfunction - A device malfunctions in some way: guns jam, bow strings break, etc. The device can be fixed by a Repair roll at -4 and 10 minutes work.Epiphany - Something you never understood before suddenly “clicks.” You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Enemy (PLAYED Q2-18): Get a Personal Nemesis. Until resolved, draw one extra Adventure Card each Session.

Maximilian crept quickly down the stairs to the main entry, only to find the chaos of the fire alarm had been replaced by the chaos of sharkmen and armed security attacking bystanders and SET members. He blinks at the scene for a moment. Why did I leave all my guns in Nadine...guns. Realizing he has just armed himself with some choice items, he slings the NG-LG6 from his shoulder and begins firing at anyone taking bites or shots at his fellow SET members. "Sic' 'em! HA!"

Shooting

Shooting with scene modifier 1d10-4 = -1: 3

Wild die Shooting 1d6-4 = 2: 6

Ace wild die with prior result 1d6+2 = 8: 6

2nd Ace wild die with prior result 1d6+8 = 14: 6

3rd Ace wild die with prior result 1d6+14 = 15: 1

Benny for extra effort with Elan and prior result 1d6+17 = 21: 4

With uncanny accuracy that would put the most expensive cyborg or power armor targeting systems to shame, Max lets fly with a barrage of laser fire that mows down several of Viggo's guards. The doppelganger sharkman watches his henchman sprout new holes in their heads and decides to take cover...behind a screaming woman. Viggo is big, but manages to make himself shrink behind this woman's smaller frame, leaving very little of a target. William Tell himself wouldn't take the shot.PUT IT DOWN! Viggo bellows. His arms are wrapped around the woman, using her as a very effective human shield. Max lowers the rifle to the ground with his right hand. It's new. Don't want to break this thing on her first ride with the 13th. In a quickdraw flash that would make the old west gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok proud, his left hand draws the new TX-26 stuffed into his waistband and fires off a shot at a tiny corner of the sharkman's exposed head, drilling him through the eye and ending his grip on the frightened woman. "This is a nice shooter, Cantrell. You're gonna love it!"
As the action hits a lull, he hears Libertas' call out on the radio. Save Rene. "Save Rene? Isn't this the woman who orchestrated the skimming of the orphanage fund? Are we saving her and not biting her head off now? Did I miss a meeting?!"

Epiphany: Something you never understood before suddenly "clicks." You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Boom! Head Shot: You may ignore any Called Shot penalties on your next ranged attack.Rally: Play to cause all allies in sight/hearing to immediately lose their Shaken status.

"Yeah, turns out she was the one who leaked a lot of the intel about this place--she's been risking her life working on the inside, trying to get it all shut down hard." He gives a small chuckle. "And look, she found us."

Q1/19 Adventure Cards: Seize the Day - The character acts as if he had drawn a Joker this combat round.Lucky Break - Play this card to completely negate the damage from one attack.Mechanical Malfunction - A device malfunctions in some way: guns jam, bow strings break, etc. The device can be fixed by a Repair roll at -4 and 10 minutes work.Epiphany - Something you never understood before suddenly “clicks.” You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Enemy (PLAYED Q2-18): Get a Personal Nemesis. Until resolved, draw one extra Adventure Card each Session.

Viggo wrote:The children with Cantrell and Firehawk scream bloody murder as a third Viggo appears out of a hold in space time ready to bash heads and suck folks into a wormhole!

When the shifty shark pops into existence seemingly out of thin air in front of them and chomps down on a panicked citizen, Firehawk herds the children behind him toward Cantrell and moves toward the foul fish. His eyes ignite as he speaks.

The Viggo clone turns his attention from the arm he is de-boning and snarls at Firehawk's group. His gore-smeared maw twists into a hungry grin as he spits, "Aaah! Been a while since I had chicken for dinner! You'll make a nice appetizer before I dig into the main course - those 4 children behind you! Muhahahahaha!"

Viggo launches himself at Firehawk, but the Lyn-Srial Legionnaire is ready. Firehawk drops his swordarm only to take aim with two of his other hands.

"Burn."

Firehawk launches a blistering pair of overcharged fire bolts at Viggo, both striking him dead-center and blasting the criminal fish backwards to slam against the wall and slump, dazed, to the ground, filling the air with the aroma of a backyard fish fry.

Cantrell takes in the chaotic scene in the lobby below, her brain working in overdrive as she tries to think of a way to deal with the many clones of the shark-faced gangsters. Just as she's about to start barking orders, the team starts in without her, taking a bite out of the multiple Viggos and goons with lasers, magic robots and psionic fire.

<<Nice shooting there, Max!>> she says, as the pilot taps into his inner gunslinger. <<You sure you don't have some showdog in your genes somewhere?>>

As Firehawk proceeds to blacken and fry the nearest version of Viggo, Cantrell unslings her Wilk's pulse rifle and starts unloading on the fourth Viggo, leading the mob of dockworkers. Against the workers, she focuses her fire in a less lethal manner, putting holes in legs or shoulders and blasting guns and vibro-knives from their hands. Against Viggo, she shoots to kill, firing pulses of laser fire in staggered, irregular groupings to get around his time-manipulated movements.

<<Alright everybody, let's take down these assholes so these civilians can clear out!>> she says. <<Let's jump that shark - however many of him there are.>>

Bane's spell was unerring in it's precision, but was caught off guard when the space surrounding Viggo bends, twists, and warps and suddenly multiple Viggo's coming from all angles. If Bane didn't have the preconceived notion that magic wasn't going to work, he would have scanned for active magic first, but when his emotions got the best of him, tactics went out the window, and now he's got to think on the fly. Before he takes any more potentially disastrous actions, he casts True Mage's Sight (Exalted Detect Arcana).

Spellcasting True Mage Sight 2

1d10 = 2: 2
Wild Die 1d6 = 2: 2

Frustrated by his failure to keep his focus, Bane miscast the spell, a rare occasion to be sure, he cast the spell again.

Spellcasting True Mage Sight 3

1d10 = 3: 3
Wild Die 1d6 = 3: 3

Not needed

1d10 = 4: 4
Wild Die 1d6 = 2: 2

Even though his second attempt was better, he still didn't have enough focus, he let's out a scream of pure rage, throwing his hands up, releasing Sun Bolts from each of his fingers, striking the ceiling above the Viggo from Loading Docks. That Viggo threw his head back laughing until a two ton chunk of the building landed on him.

Jude was a bit surprised when Viggo didn’t rise to his threat. He’d picked up the -- damn, it was heavy! -- statue on the sharkman’s desk to shove down Viggo’s throat if he tried to take a bite out of Jude.

Imagine Jude’s surprise when Bane lost it and blasted the sharkman.

And, even more surprising, Viggo… disappeared!

And then chaos exploded throughout the building as...FOUR more Viggo’s appeared, with backup, to start blasting at anything and everything moving?!

Jude moved to check on Diamond Clad. “Stay down,” he said. He palmed the bronze ring Viggo had dropped, since Diamond had said it was important for the secondary security measures down below. He slipped it on a finger to keep it safe and slipped the statue into his pack, noting the intricate gears and lock on the bottom. Huh. Interesting.

Jude unshipped his rifle, keeping low. There were too many innocents in the crossfire and he didn’t have a clear shot. He put up his rifle again and drew his vibrosword. Sure, he had the new glaive at the end of his rifle, but he had little practice with it yet.

Jude moved into the crowd, trying to encourage people toward the exit, until he found himself facing a trio of dockworkers with vibroblades themselves.

The big one grinned. “Three against one.”

Jude nodded. “I do like those odds,” he said, giving a formal salute with his blade.

The man looked at him incredulously as Jude slipped into a classical dueling stance and guffawed. “Look at the fancy pants!”

Jude just beckoned with his hand. “I don’t have all day. Have ladies to save.”

They came at him all at once. Jude parried one blade to the side, tangling it with the second. The third scored across his armor as he slipped between the two men, but did no damage. He hooked one of the men with his foot, sending him toppling. Jude poked him in the backside, and he gave a yowl of pain.

“One,” Jude said simply, resetting his stance.

“Bastard!” The remaining pair came smarter this time, splitting up and coming at him from opposite sides.

Jude pulled his vibroknife in his other hand. He parried a blade with it and the other with his sword. He wouldn’t be able to keep this up long though. He kept his feet moving, trying to get out of the flank, but the dock workers were keeping up with him.

“Come, gentlemen. I don’t have all day. You look kind of familiar. Did your sister go to the concert last night? I think she came to my rooms after…”

With an angry roar, the man rushed at Jude. His partner, a little late on the uptake, rushed as well, Jude did a neat little pirouette, his blades clacking and sliding against theirs. One of the men’s blades stabbed right through his friend’s stomach and the man gasped, coughing up blood.

“That looks like it hurt,” Jude said, his blade going to the remaining man’s throat. The man’s eyes widened in surprise and fear and he released his blade, still embedded in his friend.

“Now I really enjoyed your sister last night,” Jude said. “I wouldn’t want to be the cause of any grief to her. So I am going to spare you if you leave right now. Call in sick for the rest of the week. Understand?”

The man swallowed and nodded.

“Good man.” Jude watched him slink off and disappear into the crowd before kicking over the dying man and cleaning his blade on his work shirt.

I am so sorry I forgot to get to this post before now. The Ledger and other stuff distracted me. Thanks.
As Zieja rounds the corner she feels a hard punch to her jaw. The armored fist that hits her is connected to a armored arm leading to a body in Security Plate Armor. The guy looks like a twenty something year old male human security officer who decided to punch a woman in the face and grin while doing so. The grin fades quickly as the brute sees Zieja simply step back and rub her jaw seemingly unaffected by his punch. As Z and the security guy lock eyes the man reached quickly for his holstered hand gun. Zieja focuses her inner strength and lifts her right knee up high, the security guys gun starts to clear leather, her leg kicks out high and to her right connecting with the mans unarmored face.

The guards head snaps backwards and a sickening crack is heard as he drops to the ground. Zieja keeps her leg extended out for a moment then slowly lowers it back to her side. Years of martial arts training in the gyms of Lone star had paid off. Thanks Loni, boss mom and General, are you happy now? Seeing the others rush into combat and the chaos below Zieja frowns.

Rushing forward to the edge of the floor landing Z looks down, takes in the positions of those below, and then looks upward. using her climb cord from the bracelet, Z moves to the closest wall. Climbing up the bookshelf and grabbing a hand hold on a light fixture she swings the cable outward. Knocking a ceiling tile out of her way she climbs up into the roof.

Climbing 7

Climb d6+2 from Scorns Bracelet 1d6+2 = 7: 5, wd 1d6 = 1: 1

Pulling herself along a few feet she is now located in the ceiling and should be directly over the room below. Pulling a ceiling tile out of her way she looks down. There we go, now I can see you all, no more cover or concealment issues.

Pulling her Sniper Rifle, the one she got from the CS Assassin who was trying to kill the SET, she aims down at the chaos below and opens fire. Calmly she fires down into the security guards and makes an effort to keep an eye on her teammates as they enter the fray, covering them from above.

Afterwards she lowers herself straight down using the climb cord, then about 16 feet off the ground floor level drops the rest of the way down. Landing on her feet she makes her way through the room, stepping over the dead and moving closer to the rest of the SET.

Well mother, more proof for you and Dr. Bradford, I am a killing machine.

Maximilian replies by radio to Libertas. "Well, I don't like being found. After we finish plugging all these jokers trying to kill us..."BLAM!"..we're gonna have to have a sitdown and figure out exactly who stole what and who needs stomped. HA!" One of Viggo's toughs attempts a sideswipe at Max's head. He responds by ducking and jamming the butt of his rifle into the goon's throat, then a rolling hip toss lands the guy flat on his back, gasping for air.

Epiphany: Something you never understood before suddenly "clicks." You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Boom! Head Shot: You may ignore any Called Shot penalties on your next ranged attack.Rally: Play to cause all allies in sight/hearing to immediately lose their Shaken status.

Markus quickly gets his trusty laser pistol, and fires away at any and all enemies that are in range, rolling and taking covering as for avoiding being hurt in the close quarters' firefight. His armor helps him keep his aim true and steady, while the fight rages around him.
Shooting (+2 armor offsets penalty -4 scene): 1d10+2 = 10: 8
Note: Sorry, put a +2 instead of a -2... he rolls a 6, success.

Agility d10, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d6 (d12+2 w/Armor), Vigor d6
Charisma: 0; Pace: 6 (+2 w/Armor); Parry: 5; Toughness: 14 (7); Strain 12/12
Notice d8+2 (+2 Sight and Hearing based), Languages (Euro, American, Dragonese/Elven, and more) d12+2, Knowledge (Common) -2, Stealth d8
Hindrances (Major) Clueless: -2 to Common Knowledge, (Minor) Quirk: Does not socialize or trust non-humans, Cautious: Never makes rash decisions and likes to plot things out in detail
Adventure Deck Cards:Love Interest: Play on a nonplayer character to encourage a romantic interest for your hero. The target helps to the best of her abilities, but may frequently cause trouble as well.Sudden Death: Your hero must do or say something that gives his foes pause. All foes within 12” lose their next action.Parley: All characters cease fighting and listen to the hero speak for at least 30 seconds. Others may only take defensive actions during this time. This has no effect on beasts and other creatures that cannot understand the speaker.
Bennies: 2
Wounds: 0
Armor: Triax T-11 Enhanced: +7 Armor and +2 Toughness, as well as providing Full Environmental Protection

Actually getting to the portal seems very easily once all the Viggos and his security guards are subdued. Unsurprisingly hardly anyone got hurt. As folks spill out of the the AC Giest’s special force police units known as CEALs arrive to make sure the folks are ok. The CEALs are pale in skin color, and all look vaguely humanoid. They move with the speed of a juicer, and are fairly quick to cut to the chase. Most of the crowd seems apprehensive with there arrival, but with how things inside the AC went and the fact the CEALs are trying to assist them, the crowd seems to calm down and accept their help. Crystal helps her father up, he seems shaken and a bit older than he used to be, but otherwise ok.

Diamond Clad whispers away from Crystal to the group, “Thank you for saving Crystals soul…. We will meet you at the Pinnacle hotel after you are done here. I may need your help in properly releasing the soul.” He looks at Crystal and trying to cover for what he said he a bit too loudly says, “ Ahh yes, yes, If the portal on the otherside is broken, the only way out is through the vault itself…. The odyssey is the key.”

Crystal hugs Libertas and then makes her way out with her father. Just before she exits she remembers something and quickly hands a detailed set of directions to either Jude or Markus whomever was closest that illustrates the correct red door to choose. She pleads, “ Please get Rene .”
The maze is a series of long winding corridors made of silver and gold. A soft white fog lies low on the floor obscuring it completely. It strikes you as a realm that seems more ethereal than real. There are boundless numbers of red doors, and choosing the wrong one might send you to your deaths. It was supposed to be a piece of cake with Crystal’s map. But electric discharges and bolts of energy greet the team as soon as they step onto the other side, one bolt hits the paper making it not quite so useful, and another hits the portal putting an end to it. Hopefully Diamond Clad's last words of the vault itself containing a way out are true.

A long twisting corridor with many junctions awaits the 13th. Two kinds of trouble away them. One, is with the secondary security measures engaged seemingly random dark anomalies pop up when you least expect them to. These swirling vortexes of dark energy if they make contact with you transport you to some far off world filled with utter darkness. There is a control panel with a amber crystal in it, near the now broken portal, that controls the rate of the anomalies. The crystal seems cracked and burnt as if it was hit with a hi-energy discharge fusing it to the panel. In other words in the short time you have to move through this maze it cannot be removed, but perhaps with enough skill the spawn rate of the anomalies can be turned down as it seems like it is set to the maximum rate.
Secondly, unless any of the 13th are hidden zappers, four thunder and lightning monstrosities known only by their nicknames, The Thunder Four, roam the corridors zapping, frying, and maiming those they catch. Complicating things slightly is the fact if destroyed the security measures reform a new one to take its place in short order.

Thunder Four

IMG_0103.JPG

Well it is only 200 meters down a twisty corridor of certain electric death, dismemberment, and dark anomaly dimensional travel. At each junction, dark anomaly, thunder automaton, or an illegible map piece makes finding the right red door almost impossible. But then again almost impossible is the 13th’s middle name. Fate decrees either Jude or Markus is in position to lead the way while the rest of the 13th keeps the thunder golems at bay, helps deal with the deadly anomalies, or in general assists in locating the right red door (or something else creative).

Call from Alex

As the last person enters the portal you hear a slight crackle on the radio... Clearly Alex's voice, " Uhh I am out here in Nadine a really strange bald guy, sort of nasty looking as been looking up at the cockpit... Cssshhh... Oh no something is taking control of me... Hot chocolate, Amazon, Silver Bluff...Activate the restraints damnit...Argghhh!! Cshhhhhhhh." Silience and the portal is fried making getting back to see what if anything was wrong even more difficult.

So how are we going to do this, dramatic task style

So we are going to do a dramatic task at -4, the group as a whole needs a total of 5 successes to make it through. Each players successes add to the total group success. The dramatic task lasts for one round.
How to do it:

Make a trait roll at -4 that represents what you are doing. Narrate the result of the roll.

Markus or Jude, must have their narrative in some manner guide the group through the maze. Everyone else can attack the thunder automatons directly, deal with the control panel, deal with the anomalies, or generally help locate the right red door(or something else helpful). Clearly not everything will be a combat roll…. So choose wisely.

Not meeting the 5 successes means failing to reach the redvault and possibly being trapped down here in an endless maze.

Libertas shakes his head at the chaos. The noise is getting on his nerves, making it hard to concentrate. Still, he has a plan. Working quickly with the remnants of his now-defunct machines, he kit-bashes a device to render the attacking bots inactive, without destroying them--thereby, he hopes, bypassing the regeneration matrix.

Unfortunately, one of his components had apparently been not merely burned out, but damaged. A hairline fracture snapped, and a moment later, the begoggled Techno-wizard lay flat on his back. By the time the others pulled him to safety, one of the bots did a number on him. Looking down, he manages to mutter, "Fuck me running. That's my blood. That's supposed to be inside of me."

Q1/19 Adventure Cards: Seize the Day - The character acts as if he had drawn a Joker this combat round.Lucky Break - Play this card to completely negate the damage from one attack.Mechanical Malfunction - A device malfunctions in some way: guns jam, bow strings break, etc. The device can be fixed by a Repair roll at -4 and 10 minutes work.Epiphany - Something you never understood before suddenly “clicks.” You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Enemy (PLAYED Q2-18): Get a Personal Nemesis. Until resolved, draw one extra Adventure Card each Session.

When the map is blown up from his hand, Markus let out an expletive."Scheisse!"
He takes cover when the things get out of hand, but calms himself and lets his training take over. If you stay still, his drill sergeant told them as recruits, you die. You have to keep moving. Find cover, look around, run while keeping down, find cover again. But don't stop moving.
He tries to remember what he saw on the map, and lead the others to find the door that will take them out of the maze. He lets his cybernetic optics scan the doors, trying to detect electromagnetic, thermal, infrared or ultraviolet signatures that could indicate what the right door could be."Keep down, Freunde! Follow me!"

On the left. He remembered the general location of the door. He lets his implant explore the seemingly identical doors, but he realizes one of them if looking the same on visible wavelengths, has a very distinct infrared signature, probably because of the different destination of it.
The right door!"This one! Quickly!"
He turns to see Libertas on the floor, and his face turns white under his cyclops helmet."Libertas! Hold on!"
Without thinking he goes back to retrieve the immobile "human" he has learned to trust. His brother in arms. Both of them will go out of the maze, of both of them would die here. Together. As platoon members should.

OOC Comments

Good think with his armor he can carry Libertas easily. Need to roll something for doing it?

Agility d10, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d6 (d12+2 w/Armor), Vigor d6
Charisma: 0; Pace: 6 (+2 w/Armor); Parry: 5; Toughness: 14 (7); Strain 12/12
Notice d8+2 (+2 Sight and Hearing based), Languages (Euro, American, Dragonese/Elven, and more) d12+2, Knowledge (Common) -2, Stealth d8
Hindrances (Major) Clueless: -2 to Common Knowledge, (Minor) Quirk: Does not socialize or trust non-humans, Cautious: Never makes rash decisions and likes to plot things out in detail
Adventure Deck Cards:Love Interest: Play on a nonplayer character to encourage a romantic interest for your hero. The target helps to the best of her abilities, but may frequently cause trouble as well.Sudden Death: Your hero must do or say something that gives his foes pause. All foes within 12” lose their next action.Parley: All characters cease fighting and listen to the hero speak for at least 30 seconds. Others may only take defensive actions during this time. This has no effect on beasts and other creatures that cannot understand the speaker.
Bennies: 2
Wounds: 0
Armor: Triax T-11 Enhanced: +7 Armor and +2 Toughness, as well as providing Full Environmental Protection

Alex's call comes over the radio as they enter the portal. "Alex! Stay with me! Make sure she's locked up. Stomp the bald guy if you have to, but stay with me!" Unsure of how much, if anything transmitted, he curses to himself. "Sweet Nadine. If someone touches my baby, I'll burn this town down myself! Come on, let's get outta here! I gotta get back to Nadine!"

The chaos beyond the portal is almost too much to keep track of. The black hole anomalies give Max particular concern. Thinking quickly, he takes a closer look at the toggl.e

Max looks at the broken toggle. "Hey, even tech wizard stuff is tech. Let me try something. Cover me!" He runs to the broken panel and tries jamming his vibrosword into the cover. It's completely fused to the unit and the vibrosword isn't making a dent."Fleas and ticks! There goes my only idea...wait!" He rips the e-clip out of his rifle and pries the top off, finding a bit of wiring that connects to the power pack. Taking a few moments as lightning sparks around him, he rigs his makeshift battery pack to connect to the tip of his vibrosword. Working like a surgeon, Max twists the juiced sword around the dial. "I think I got it!" He gives a turn, cranking the dial to what looks like a lower setting. "Hey, I think that worked. Fewer black holes! Let's get a move on!"
Running back to catch up with the crew, he picks up the other side of the injured Libertas and helps Markus carry him along. "Hey, don't worry, Lib! We've got ya! It's only a little scrape. We'll get you patched up in no time!"

Last edited by Maximilian on Sat Oct 07, 2017 1:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Epiphany: Something you never understood before suddenly "clicks." You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Boom! Head Shot: You may ignore any Called Shot penalties on your next ranged attack.Rally: Play to cause all allies in sight/hearing to immediately lose their Shaken status.

While Markus is recalling map from memory, Lib blowing himself up, and Max adjusting the control panel, Bane is watching the vortexes as they appear and disappear, he notices a pattern to their timing and locations. As Markus is guiding everyone through the maze, Bane is pointing out to him when and where the next vortex will pop up.

Firehawk moves to aid Libertas, but Markus is already there, gathering the mage in his arms. Damn! This whole mission suddenly went breast-up in a hurry.

As he opens his beak to ask what they should do next, a strange noise that sounds like the combination of a sparking Tesla coil and a heavy industrial CLANK echoes out from a nearby corridor. That must be one of the Thunder Four.

Firehawk glances back at the group. He sees Libertas incapacitated and being carried lovingly in the arms of Markus while Max launches an apparent attack on the panel with his vibro-sword. What is Max doing?! Did the panel attack Libertas? If so, I will burn it! Oh, maybe he's trying to fix it. Yeah, that actually makes much more sense."Good job, Max!" he yells in encouragement.

To the rest of the squad he says, "One of the T4 is headed this way. Take Libertas and find that door and I will try to draw them away from you. We'll meet back up when you find the door." He then launches himself in the air and heads down the echoing corridor. As he comes around a bend in the hall, he sees the electric guardian barreling down the hall toward the rest of the 13th. I've got to draw it away from the group without destroying it to keep them clear! Firehawk thinks furiously of something to say to the T4 to force it to come after him instead, but in the critical moment his brain fails him.

"Hey! You, uh, thing! Uh...what are you doing there?" Firehawk grimaces with mental anguish at his failure to come up with something witty as the guardian ignores him and heads toward the group. I guess I'll have to use a more direct method.

The sound of fire, steel, and lightning echo back to the group from the corridor. After it stops, Firehawk flies back to them with a look of disappointment on his face. "I couldn't draw it away, it didn't respond at all to my, uh, vicious taunting. Probably just a stupid construct or something that doesn't understand when it's been verbally burned...yeah that's it. I destroyed it of course, but that doesn't help much since another will just take its place."

That cuts it! I am sick of this place! It hurts my head! Silver. Red. Gold. Myst. Damn it all!

Zieja looks at each member of the SET as she pulls her black hair back into a pony tail.

She hands the box she has, the one from the alley with the "gift" in it, to Bane as she passes him, "Hold please."

Time to try something new.

Z unclips the TW Sword from her belt, she has never used the strange device but is about to christen it in violent death.

Stopping at Libertas she summons her inner strength as she lays her hand on his forehead. "Be Strong."

Having bolstered Libertas - Zieja says very nonchalantly and with a even tone, "Stay calm, search the doors, you will find the exit. I have faith in you. I will keep the demons at bay, none shall harm you. If you find the door and I am not with you, do not wait for me. Sir Seth Merihk made it very clear to me, protect the 13th, even at lose of my life, this was why I was allowed to join the Legion. I am here to make sure you all survive. Stay together, stay tight, and don't stray from each other again. Maintain a 360 view, be alert, protect each other and find that door. If, I don't make it back, know that I have had the time of my life with you all. Thank you."

Turning she stops. Facing Max she says, "Thanks for being my friend." Quickly hugging the Dog Boy she then steps back, her face hardening and she activates her TW Sword and lets out a shocking piercing scream!

With increased speed (Power: Speed Pace 30) Zieja bolts through the maze, rapidly slashing out at the enemies as she kicks dirt into their faces, or runs up a wall and back flips, her culmination of lifelong training as a Commando in the Lone Star CS Special Forces coming into play. Hack and slash, she is a dull, stoic, uncaring, killing machine; after putting down a few of the Constructs she picks up on the fact that, kill one equals a new one spawns. Her tactics change to incapacitating the creatures. Slicing legs and arms off she leaves them alive. Hoping that this will prevent them from re-spawning.

Deftly she maneuvers through the corridors of the maze, uncaring in regard to becoming lost in the maze, she maintains a situational awareness for what hazards might effect the rest of the 13th and maintains a focused concentration on fighting off any demons that might become a issue for the SET. Somewhere in the back of her mind, quietly, she prays she will be able to escape with the rest of her new friends, the 13th SET. However, in the forefront of her thoughts is the knowledge that she will die if it makes sure they escape.

Since Max calmed down the anomalies and she is handling the physical threats - hopefully the others can figure out in relative safely - what door to take.

Max accepts Zieja's hug and gives her a squeeze back. "My pleasure, Z, but don't you dare get lost in here. We all leave together or we don't go!" He then stands watching, a little gobsmacked, at the absolute whirling dervish of death that went vaulting and leaping down the hall, blade slashing this way and that. "Well, I'll be a shih tzu's uncle. Look at her go!" Following her commands, he continues hustling down the hall with Markus and Libertas, Bane and Firehawk close behind."Let's go, 13! No one left behind!"

Notice, 8

Notice with detect arcana scent, +2 if smell based 1d6 = 6: 6

Ace Notice with prior result 1d6+6 = 8: 2

Wild die Notice 1d6 = 2: 2

Last edited by Maximilian on Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:12 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Epiphany: Something you never understood before suddenly "clicks." You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Boom! Head Shot: You may ignore any Called Shot penalties on your next ranged attack.Rally: Play to cause all allies in sight/hearing to immediately lose their Shaken status.

Agility d10, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d6 (d12+2 w/Armor), Vigor d6
Charisma: 0; Pace: 6 (+2 w/Armor); Parry: 5; Toughness: 14 (7); Strain 12/12
Notice d8+2 (+2 Sight and Hearing based), Languages (Euro, American, Dragonese/Elven, and more) d12+2, Knowledge (Common) -2, Stealth d8
Hindrances (Major) Clueless: -2 to Common Knowledge, (Minor) Quirk: Does not socialize or trust non-humans, Cautious: Never makes rash decisions and likes to plot things out in detail
Adventure Deck Cards:Love Interest: Play on a nonplayer character to encourage a romantic interest for your hero. The target helps to the best of her abilities, but may frequently cause trouble as well.Sudden Death: Your hero must do or say something that gives his foes pause. All foes within 12” lose their next action.Parley: All characters cease fighting and listen to the hero speak for at least 30 seconds. Others may only take defensive actions during this time. This has no effect on beasts and other creatures that cannot understand the speaker.
Bennies: 2
Wounds: 0
Armor: Triax T-11 Enhanced: +7 Armor and +2 Toughness, as well as providing Full Environmental Protection

Jude stepped through the portal and into the swirling mists if the maze. Many red doors lined the mists, and the portal disappeared behind them.

“Well, that’s encouraging…” Jude murmured. He watched dark energy portals pop in and out of existence. “I’m going out on a limb to say those aren’t going to be pleasant.”

And those lightning creatures didn’t look at all pleasant, either.

Libertas tries working some of his tech-mojo, but something blows up, leaving the man blinking and prone on the floor, bleeding.

“This is a great start.”

Max has better luck hacking the control panel, managing to turn down the rate of the weird black energy anomalies, and Marcus starts leading them down the corridor, with Bane figuring out an apparent pattern to the anomalies.

“Z, don’t be stupid,” Jude told Zieja, but she was already running off for some stupid noble sacrifice. “Damn it!” Jude ran off after her, but there was no way he could keep up with her speed. He glanced back at the others.

Markus had stopped. “You have the right door?” Jude asked. “Then I’m going after Z. We’ll be right back. Give us a few.”

Jude raced down the corridor toward where he heard the sounds of fighting. Zieja was holding her own, doing pretty well, but even she could be outnumbered, and these things were electricity.

“Electricity…” Jude mused. He started yanking off his gear. He pulled the e-clips out of his rifles and pistols and the batteries from his vibro-weapons and even the flashlight from his pack. Using the saw wires, he looped them up and connected them. For a bit extra, he wrapped it in a cloth and poured water over it.

“Pray to whatever gods you believe in, Jude,” he murmured. Z was having difficulty with the last electric creature and didn’t notice the one reforming behind her. Jude lined up a throw and threw the makeshift device into the reforming creature as Zieja finished off her opponent. There was a grand howl that threw electricity and sparks all around. Jude felt it tingle against his skin and quickly shielded his eyes as the electric beast burst apart.

Zieja caught the smoking and sizzling device before hit clocked her in the head and gave Jude a look.

Jude grinned as he strutted toward Z. “What do you know? It worked!” he laughed. Then Jude frowned. “But we really need to get you to a stylist, Z. You’re lucky. I know a thing or two about ladies’ hair.”

“Well...scented candles, soft music, expert hands… You never know what might happen, Z,” Jude said with a grin, slipping his arm around the pretty girl’s shoulders. “Now, let me be a gentleman and get a door for you.”

Q1/19 Adventure Cards: Seize the Day - The character acts as if he had drawn a Joker this combat round.Lucky Break - Play this card to completely negate the damage from one attack.Mechanical Malfunction - A device malfunctions in some way: guns jam, bow strings break, etc. The device can be fixed by a Repair roll at -4 and 10 minutes work.Epiphany - Something you never understood before suddenly “clicks.” You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Enemy (PLAYED Q2-18): Get a Personal Nemesis. Until resolved, draw one extra Adventure Card each Session.

Cantrell quickly scans for threats as the group emerges into the maze, but before she can formulate a plan the others are off, Firehawk and Z both rushing off to try to distract the buzzing, electrified foes that are converging on their position. As Jude follows Z, Cantrell takes stock of the closer situation - Libertas is down, but Max and Bane seem to be getting a handle on the shifting vortices while Markus tracks down the correct door. Given time, they'll pull through, but not if the enemy is able to come at them from so many angles of attack ...

<<Everybody stand clear - Firehawk, Z, Jude, return the way you came, I'm going to eliminate a few fields of fire ...>>

Servos whine as she runs to one of the open hallways and punches an armored fist into the wall near a riveted seam, then peels pack the metal paneling, pulling it into the hall to block movement. She does the same on the other side of the hall, pulling and bending the steel sheeting until it blocks sight and passage from that that direction. She does the same on two other hallways, leaving access only for her teammates to return and for the group to advance to the correct door.

Jude laughed with Z. “Sometimes I wish I was too,” he said with a wink before they rejoined the others. “How is Goggles doing?” Jude asked. “Let me take a look at him.”

Jude knelt down beside Libertas and pulled out his first aid kit from his pack. He looked up to watch Cantrell literally ripping panels off the wall to block access to their area, and he gave a low whistle. “Looking good, Boss.”

Cantrell wrote:Servos whine as she runs to one of the open hallways and punches an armored fist into the wall near a riveted seam, then peels pack the metal paneling, pulling it into the hall to block movement. She does the same on the other side of the hall, pulling and bending the steel sheeting until it blocks sight and passage from that that direction. She does the same on two other hallways, leaving access only for her teammates to return and for the group to advance to the correct door.

As Firehawk returns, he cocks his head curiously at Cantrell, wondering why she is tearing the walls apart. When she fixes the torn metal sheets into place Firehawk understands her plan. He steps up to the first makeshift barricade and welds the edges into the wall with a short, concentrated fire torch blasting from his hands.

Sadly, Libertas' injuries are a little beyond Jude's first aid skills--he really should get a doctor, or even better, magical healing. Still, he gives a thumbs-up to Jude for the effort. "I can walk, now--the jolt just really caught me off-guard there. You guys seem to have things covered, fortunately--good work!" And he stands--wincing a bit as he does, but yes, he can move, however awkwardly.

OOC Comments

Okay, so with a -2 to the Healing roll, Jude got a simple failure.

Since this was a Crit/Epic Fail, so I'm going to suggest that with that, yes, Lib is now outside the Golden Hour--they had too much time to spend dealing with robots and reality-tearing fields to properly attend to the injuries, so going into the next/last(?) encounter with 2 wounds.

Q1/19 Adventure Cards: Seize the Day - The character acts as if he had drawn a Joker this combat round.Lucky Break - Play this card to completely negate the damage from one attack.Mechanical Malfunction - A device malfunctions in some way: guns jam, bow strings break, etc. The device can be fixed by a Repair roll at -4 and 10 minutes work.Epiphany - Something you never understood before suddenly “clicks.” You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Enemy (PLAYED Q2-18): Get a Personal Nemesis. Until resolved, draw one extra Adventure Card each Session.

All that stands between you and the doors of the vault are monofilament blades that are barely visible, and if hit by one it would most likely hurt a great deal. Libertas’ crystal the perfect thing to help see the nigh invisible webs seems a bit worse for wear. Several cracks in the crystal have diminished its usefulness. Still though having the item you are better off with than without it.
After passing through the wens you make it to a long hallway and see two doors at the end.

Mandatory Agility minus 2

All players must make an agility roll -2 to get through the webs, failure equals 1 wound.

Contrary to the name and perhaps an indicator of trouble, the doors to the vault are ashen white and made of some kind of impenetrable metal. The two doors are side by side and freestanding in the middle of a long hallway just past the webs. The vault panels are blinking indicating someone is currently inside. You can walk around the doors but from either side they will not open. Clearly the vault has been tampered with in order to keep someone inside. How long could someone last in the vault? Is there air, is the vault some kind of extra dimensional space? Is there food? All those questions and maybe more go through your heads just as you see Viggo the fin appear back the way you came. He has a white crystal matching the color of the doors. He yells at you, “ I’ll pluck my armor from your dead suffocated corpse in an hour. In the meantime I got to go see a girl... Nadine is her name.” He holds the crystal aloft and suddenly you are transported into the red vault trap!

Inside the Red Vault: a dream realized

Inside the vault you see a library of sorts. Scrolls and leather bound books adorn the shelves. There are stoppered vials and interesting curios everywhere. Also several modern flat screens display the ongoings of what is presently happening in the AC and in gloom itself. Such as Max’s Titan rampaging through the streets of Gloom busting buildings as it apperently is headiing towards the radio station. You think you can see a bald sinister man sitting on Nadine's shoulder laughing with glee.
Some screens are strangely showing events in the past, like the rock concert, or a strange looking pale Juicer going into the radio station with some men around the time Vector Inlay and the orphans credits were robbed. Even the moment when Crystal spoke to Libertas about getting the creds for the orphans back is displayed. As you step through you see behind a crackle of unnatural energy as if the doors should remain existence but for some reason instead they vanish. The ceiling in the room is high about 15ft. The air is very stale. The Library seems to go on for quite some ways. You are currently in the main area of it.
Sitting at an all glass desk, in an all glass chair, at the far end of the main Lobby, is Rene, a female Ley Line Walker and the owner of the Arcane Company. Older, not elder, she is dressed in greens and robes, over mostly hidden more conventional armor. Her only visible weapon a large sheathed sword that radiates the arcane. It appears she might have been asleep, but the relatively fresh air that was transported in with you, stirs her awake.

Standing perhaps a bit wobbly she greets you and this is the first time there is any indication that she is not exactly, human. Standing at 10 feet tall she is obviously not petite. Now the high ceiling make more sense. Moving around to stand in front of the glass desk she smiles menacingly drawing her sword and introduces herself:
"I am Renefingafla Hræsvelgrdottir. Everyone calls me Rene. I see that you must be Viggo’s men… Or perhaps paid off by Geist to get rid of me… It makes sense now.” She shakes her head brushing any effects of hypoxia away and laughs still holding her sword at you, “ Frame me and the OTO for the orphans lack of housing. I heard about the radio station being robbed… Fraking Giest! My friend on the inside even told me some folks might be coming by looking for certain individuals. I have their information here in these files, all nicely prepared for you.”. She gestures to some files labeled black company on a side table. “But that is all I will do. No one comes into my company and causes so much chaos. You guys even killed Roland, one of my executives. Sure he was a coward and acted like a cowered as he is want to do. But what are you?” She imposingly raises her sword preparing to fight, “ You will not be taking these documents, if need be I will die here knowing I righted a wrong.”
A series of papers unexpectedly flying off her desk behind her catch her attention. She raises her sword at the last minute parrying a blade that would have killed her.

Max and Markus

The two of you see a charamatic man, wearing similiar armor to markus, but with only one arm holding a shimmering vibroweapon. The man makes almost no noise as he moves. It is almost as if his charasmatic aura and force of will are making you forget he is even there. But you two scored high enough on your notice checks to make him. He scurries down deeper into this Library

After a brief moment no more attacks come, she turns her focus back on the 13th. “ So an invisible assassin, trapped in the most well designed vault a dragon lord could desire, the 8 of you, and only enough oxygen for 5 minutes…. Not my typical Tuesday… What are you waiting for? You wrecked and fought so hard to come take me down!” Rene’s hands crackle with electric energy and it sparks over sword. She seems ready to take all comers, but with the attacker on the loose her position shifted so that she seems focused on Jude more than anyone else. " But with this last gasp, you shall find I am no pushover!" Several amazonian women appear out of thin air, they are all dressed similiarly to Rene. In fact they could be sisters. The summoned creatures charge the 13th weilding diamond tipped spears capable of piercing even the most modern of armors!

Rules of Engagement

Rene is no easy foe and she is pissed off, plus with the lack of oxygen it just makes things so much harder. She just suommoned 7 amazon warriors to tango with you!
Scene modifier is at a -4, don't forget the agility rolls at -2 to bypass the invisible razor wire.
So just like quick combat, or dramatic task. Choose a trait, make a roll at -4, and provide the narrative based on the roll.
Judes narrative must include dealing with Rene is some fashion as only Jude can. You need a total of 5 successes as a group to succeed in overcoming the challenge.

Some things you could do: Attack Rene, find the invisible attacker, fix the doors, recall Diamond Clad said the book the oddessy is the key ( if you locate it, what does that look like?), make some oxygen, use the screens that show present and past, grab the black company ledger, find the book keeping leger of the AC that Giest was paying you to retrive. You can search for the credits, but sadly they are not here... +1 Benny if you spend your turn trying to help the orphans( just know those successes no matter how awesome, will not count to overcoming the challange).

Markus shows his agility easily bypassing what remains of the wire trap.
"The assassin! He went that way!"
Markus signals the others where the assassin went. He kneels and starts shooting at the "amazons".
Shooting Roll: 5 (Simple success)

As several times before, he starts shooting wildly and misses his mark, but after a couple seconds he lets his NGR soldier training take over, gets into firing position again, exhales, and start shooting at the Amazons, with more success that time.

Agility d10, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d6 (d12+2 w/Armor), Vigor d6
Charisma: 0; Pace: 6 (+2 w/Armor); Parry: 5; Toughness: 14 (7); Strain 12/12
Notice d8+2 (+2 Sight and Hearing based), Languages (Euro, American, Dragonese/Elven, and more) d12+2, Knowledge (Common) -2, Stealth d8
Hindrances (Major) Clueless: -2 to Common Knowledge, (Minor) Quirk: Does not socialize or trust non-humans, Cautious: Never makes rash decisions and likes to plot things out in detail
Adventure Deck Cards:Love Interest: Play on a nonplayer character to encourage a romantic interest for your hero. The target helps to the best of her abilities, but may frequently cause trouble as well.Sudden Death: Your hero must do or say something that gives his foes pause. All foes within 12” lose their next action.Parley: All characters cease fighting and listen to the hero speak for at least 30 seconds. Others may only take defensive actions during this time. This has no effect on beasts and other creatures that cannot understand the speaker.
Bennies: 2
Wounds: 0
Armor: Triax T-11 Enhanced: +7 Armor and +2 Toughness, as well as providing Full Environmental Protection

Going through the door, the team is faced with the web of dangerous monofilament wire. Libertas is able to use his crystal to illuminate the wires, though. Jude proceeds to show remarkable flexibility as he makes his way through the webbing.

Jude studies the -- surprisingly ash white -- doors of the vault, walking around them. “Curious,” he murmurs. Then a voice bellows behind them and Jude spins around. “Viggo? God, how many times must we kill you, dude!” He glanced over at Max. Damn. If he got into Nadine… “I really hope your security is good…” he told the dog boy.

And then the world went white. When it cleared, they found themselves...inside the vault!

“Oh, this isn’t good…”

Jude looked around what appeared to be a large library, with books and scrolls and neat little curious. And the screens. He saw Nadine rampaging through town. That wasn’t good. And then their concert. There was Crystal, as well.

Jude turned to the middle-aged woman rousing herself from slumber at a glass desk. Blonde, attractive, and armed with a wicked magic sword, it appeared.

And -- God damn! -- she’s tall! Jude tilted his head back to look up at the ten foot woman as she drew her sword, summoning several Amazonian warriors to attack them.

Why are hot women always trying to kill me? Jude thought with a sigh. He parried one woman with his glaive, slipping past.

“Rene! You have it all wrong!” Jude said, hurrying up to the big woman. “Yes, Geist told us you burned down the orphanage and the radio station and stole the funds for the orphans. If you didn’t, then help us prove it. Crystal seems to think you’re legit. She sent us down here to save you, get you out of here. We do not have to be enemies. Even if you defeat us, you still have to escape. At least let us help! I don’t like the idea of having to hurt a beautiful woman.” Jude flashed her a winning smile, even as he dodged the spear of another Amazon, entangling it with his glaive and disarming her.

Libertas probably would've gotten cut if he weren't the one carrying the crystal; he holds it directly to his eyes at some points, making certain to look through an uncracked portion of the gem.

Once they are in the vault and things go pear-shaped (again), he shakes his head, first pulling out his puzzle box and summoning a troop of 4 Beatbots to help fend off the Amazonian Sister Brigade, buying him enough time to do his REAL effort: creating a device that gives the SET, and Rene, the ability to survive in the oxygen-deprived environment, letting everyone breathe easier. "He's telling the truth, Rene! Why else would I be trying to keep you alive in here, as well?" Turning to the Dog-boy, he adds, "Hey, Max, think you can fix the doors? I'm outta juice, and Markus is busy killing someone."

Q1/19 Adventure Cards: Seize the Day - The character acts as if he had drawn a Joker this combat round.Lucky Break - Play this card to completely negate the damage from one attack.Mechanical Malfunction - A device malfunctions in some way: guns jam, bow strings break, etc. The device can be fixed by a Repair roll at -4 and 10 minutes work.Epiphany - Something you never understood before suddenly “clicks.” You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Enemy (PLAYED Q2-18): Get a Personal Nemesis. Until resolved, draw one extra Adventure Card each Session.

Rene's revelations barely have a chance to register in Firehawk's mind when the summoned Amazons charge the 13th. He considers launching a shockwave or two to knock out the charging Amazons, but decides it is too risky. Who knows what volatile arcane objects litter this vault? Better safe than sorry. He draws his sword and launches himself into the air as Markus spots the assassin.

Markus wrote:"The assassin! He went that way!"

"I'm on it." Firehawk draws upon his psychic reserves to enhance his senses. His aura blazes a fiery trail as he flies over the Amazons in an attempt to track the stealthy assassin in the direction indicated by Markus. As he moves down the corridor, he mentally ignites small, harmless fires along the walkways on the floor, hoping to see a telltale swirl of flame that might indicate an invisible presence.

Last edited by Firehawk on Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

Max, guided by Libertas' crystal, weaves his way through the web of monofilament blades like he's trained for it a hundred times. "I trained some agility courses just like this. No sweat!"
Max looks back at Viggo and hears the declaration. "You keep your hands off my baby! I'm gonna rip your heart out through your freaking gills, you rotten trout!" Before he can lunge, the 13th is transported into the vault. "GRRRRRARRRRRGH!!"
Blinking a few times as the surroundings are altered, he sees the screens, and Nadine's destructive jaunt through the city. "He's dead. He's a dead fish walking. And whoever that guy is, he's dead too. No mercy. I'll rip their throats out in front of the town. I'll put the Dres Marbles Left show to shame with the spectacle of blood. COME ON, Alex! Come to! Shut 'em down!"
Turning around to face Rene, he sees the strange assassin take his swipe and run off, Markus close on his heels. "He's all yours, Markus! I got something to fetch."
Dodging the spears and swipes of the amazons, Max starts scanning the shelves for some semblance of order and organization.

Smarts 12, success and 2 raises

Smarts, -4 scene 1d8 = 8: 8

Ace smarts, -4, plus prior result 1d8+4 = 7: 3

Benny for extra effort with Elan and prior result 1d6+9 = 12: 3

Wild die Smarts 1d6-4 = 2: 6

Ace wild die, -4, plus prior result 1d6+2 = 3: 1

In a flash, Max deduces the order of the shelves. Still dodging swipes and darts from a handful of Amazons, Max runs to one of the shelves and leaps to the ladder. "Got it! Who's a good boy?!" Pulling The Odyssey from the shelf, he starts flipping through the pages. "I think that passage is right here...WHOA!"

An amazon, frustrated with Max being out of reach, decides the ladder should go. She shoves it to the ground, taking Max with it. But he deftly rolls with the fall and runs to the invisible doors. He reads a passage from the book in a commanding voice. "'As a bull roars when feeding in the field, so roared the goodly door touched by the key and open flew before her.'" With a flash, the doors that had vanished reappear.

"That's classical education for ya. Hey! We've got doors! We have an exit!"

Last edited by Maximilian on Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:48 am, edited 5 times in total.

Epiphany: Something you never understood before suddenly "clicks." You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Boom! Head Shot: You may ignore any Called Shot penalties on your next ranged attack.Rally: Play to cause all allies in sight/hearing to immediately lose their Shaken status.

Following behind, keeping an eye on the group's 6 o'clock, Cantrell nearly runs face-first into the concealedrazorwire, but her reflexes kick in and instinct takes over as she dances through the booby-trapped area with a ballerina's grace.

All those minefield exercises from training, paying off, she thinks, just before that damn shark-man Viggo shows up and the world goes topsy-turvy.

Inside the strange, magical vault, Cantrell's brain kicks into over-drive, trying to process everything her eyes soak in from the place, an apparent library and curio vault that could become a mausoleum if oxygen levels decline any further. Libertas seems equipped to deal with that particular situation, then the big woman summons a bunch of bloodthirsty Amazons and Markus, predictably, responds with laser fire.

As Jude does his best to sweet-talk the giant woman, Rene, and Firehawk flies off after the invisible assassin, and Max starts barking his head off while climbing the shelves, Cantrell loses patience.

<<Alright, everybody cease your goddamn fire before you burn up what little air there is left in this place! Put your swords and lasers back in your pants and let's discuss this like civilized adults who are all trapped in a magical vault together, while a fish-headed timelord wrecks hell on a bunch of orphans and everybody goddamn else back in Gloom!>>

As Bane picked his way past the monofilament wire, one catches the horns on his head, causing him to stumble into the next one, taking it on the shoulder. He cried out in pain for a moment before he was able to compose himself and was ready to finish getting though the monofilament wires. Bane's blood began to boil when Viggo came into view, but he didn't have time to act as suddenly he found himself inside the vault with everyone else.

On the inside, Bane is astounded by all that he sees there, enough books to fill several mansions just from what he can see. But before he has a chance to inspect the books, Rene comes to and verbally bashes them, not once realizing (or perhaps caring) they are the ones she's supposed to give the dossiers over to. Then the Assassin strikes and runs off, with Markus and Firehawk going after it. Chaos ensued when she summoned forth several Amazonian warriors, Bane realized he had to do something as Rene was casting fault at the entire group. So he walked out to here with his hands held high with his arms out wide and says to her "Leave them out of this, I am the one responsible for the chaos in your building. I was the one who attacked the monstrous maniac known as Viggo the Fin, trying to enact a warrant for his death, signed personally by The Three for the mysterious deaths of dozens of people, my partner included. In retaliation, he had attempted to assassinate the Three. He failed to do so, but in spite of all that, Viggo is the closest anyone has ever come to killing one of them. But none of that matters now as it doesn't change the fact that I am the one that caused all of this to happen. I supplant myself to whatever punishment you deem acceptable for what I have done." He says as he lays down in front of her.

Making her way through the mess of danger into the room with Rene is simple enough for her. Zieja just concentrates and makes her way into the room.

Looking up at the Amazon warriors racing towards her Zieja pulls her TW Sword from her belt so fast that she doesn’t get it properly unhooked and as a result she ruins her belt. All of her weapons clatter to the floor. With stunned silence she pulls her rifle up and around on its combat sling. About to raise the rifle to fire Z steps onto the TW Sword and slips. As she falls flat onto her back she drops the rifle which hangs off to her right. Groaning Zieja rolls over to get back up and feels a sharp pain.

Crack!

A wicked lance tip cracks into her left side. Zieja cries out in pain as a rib is broken. Falling back to the floor a second time she angrily pushes herself back upward. Turning to face the Amazon warrior who hit her, a second warrior woman smashes a lancing blow across Z’s face. Toppling back to lay flat on her back, again, a red welt appears on Z’s forehead. Groaning more Z sits up reaching for her Sword which is now next to her. Grasping it tightly Zieja activates it and raises it up to block the next blow. Swinging her legs around Zieja swiftly stands up while blocking two more wild attacks at her. A sharp pain explodes at the back of her head from another woman hitting her from behind. Zieja ignores the pain in her ribs and her thick head. Turning around she punches out at the woman. Avoiding a hit, Zieja open palm hits her in the nose. The woman drops. A spear strike lands on her back pushing her forward and onto the ground. Jumping up she takes four more hits across her chest and face. Unable to see from the blood in eyes she wildly strikes out with the sword. A warrior woman grabs her from behind and pins her arms to her sides. Two other women move in on Z. One strikes Zieja in the abdomen and the other cracks the lance down onto the top of her head.

Dying Amazons, winning smiles, breathing easy, hunting assasins, revealing doors, patience pants, police action, deathly bludgeons, seem to sway Rene from loosing her cool. She slams the sword down inches from Banes head and dissmisses her amazons before they can kill Z. She looks at Max and the red doors he made reappear, yes red, apperently the sabotage to the vault has been mostly undone. The doors seem to crackle with blue energy from time to time. With a warry eye on Jude and Cantrell she kneels near Bane and lifts the D'norr up to his feet.
She whispers to him, " If you die it will not be by my sword." She steps back to her desk breathing easy, and nods briefly to Libertas.
She still has her sword drawn, and her voice is civil at best. " Giest, Viggo... Perhaps Viggo is a third player to our dance. He has worked here at the AC for sometime now, of course he would be a murderer. Some kind of temporal wizard, and from what I know only the evil at heart dare to learn that magic. I will need to have a talk with Williams in human resources..."She gestures to the book in Max's hand with a small amount of fondness in her rather cool voice, " Diamond Clad was fond of reading that book in your hand, now I see why... A reset override.".

Her eyes narrow taking in the 13th and at Bane, " One of my executive board members was killed today... Your actions directly lead to his death. He was a coward, and I am sure more, but he has a young daughter and a wife I am fond of." She pulls from the shelf, a silver basin and a red handeled dagger. " His death was not more than a few hours, and can be reversed by a short ritual." She places the bowl and dagger on a small table near the 13th, " I require 3 of you to cut your self and donate a small portion of your life to the bowl. Be warry for the dagger is thirsty and can, if left unchecked, take more. But this will save his essence and restore life into his body. I have also seen men changed when brought back, the selfish turn hero, the good turned evil... Sometimes the life blood of those who so choose to participate impart qualities into the vessel."

Rene, goes over to her large glass desk table and shethes her sword. She hands the dossier on the black company to Cantrell. Then taps a few buttons on a keypad and the red doors shimmer slightly. She clears the rest of her desk with a sweep of her hand. " I have modified the doors slightly, exiting now on the right will take you to the front of the radio station." One of the monitors now displays the Titan crashed against a building just accross from the radio station. You can see Viggo and some juicer like soldiers or mercs helping him get an industrial drill in place to take Nadine apart. It seems slow work, maybe about in 20 minutes they will have it just right. No sign of the maniacal bald man named Charlie. Rene glances at the monitor and mutters, "Seems he is aided by Giests Ceals..." Possibly noticing that the term Ceals means nothing to the 13th she adds in, " Modified juicers, a step below a murder wraith, but they retain many of their gifts before the alchemical process."

Rene continues, " The left door will take you to the BC, I beleive they are zooming around in some kind of high speed chase." She walks over to Z and lifts her gently placing her on the glass desk. Rene grabs some vials and salvs off the shelf." Your friend here is bleeding out, I have enough here to stop the bleeding and bring her conscious, I can assist any of you who are a doctor to repair the rest, or I can do it myself. It would appear either way you are headed into a fight." She smiles slightly amused, " Why a door to the BC?" She flicks another control while removing Z's uppor torso armor plates. On the main monitor you see video footage of Z's hotel room, or rather just outside of it. A cool drink of water woman, and a small feline cat have her guitar case and seem to be taking it back to the room. The cat disapears into the room, and opens the door for the woman. Not more than 3 seconds later some invisible force drags the dead body of Vector Inlay into an air vent." The reason, in part, are the questions surrounding Vector Inlay's death. A Giest fanatic I suppose, but honor and goodness was at his core. He said what he beleived and beleived in what he said even if misguided from time to time. That and a few in house issues stemming operations on Amarok IV have me wondering who these people really are." She places a wrap of sweet smelling buttercream mixed with bits of green glowing rock on Z's shoulder.

OOC Comments

With a successful notice roll you can see Z has a special CS commando tatoo

Rene with strength holds Z down, and places a cold blue stone with a magnifying glass on top of her forehead, She bends low to Z's ear and whispers, " Stay with us soldier. The might of my amazons is indeed fierce, but call forth a memory that is as vivid as you can, share it and it will aid us in saving your life." With no small amount lf urgency in her voice she rights herself and addresses the 13th, " We must move quickly here. If any of you are a skilled surgeon I have your tools here. Those that may see in their hearts a path to save or change a life spill your blood. I beleive your firebird did a nice job smoking out the would be assasin, perhaps some could tracking him down, or at least watch our backs and fend him off if need be. " She glances at Libertas who may or may not be bleeding on the floor, " Glasses, drink the white stoppered vial second shelf there to your right. If it tastes like sweet milk drink it, if it is bitter spit it out and pray to what ever diety may hear your calls. There is a second vial behind it should another need it. But stop bleeding on my nice floor and see if you can check the door or control panel in the back of my office. We don't want those doors disapearing again." She slaps her hands breaking what ever pause in motion her talking had caused, "While we work to heal and mend this woman, think about which door to choose... This will take a few minutes and while we are far from allies, your actions here will dictate if you are assassins from Giest, Viggo's Lackies, bounty hunters, or heroes. Whatever your decisions, I must insist you leave one way or another."

Scene modifier

No scene modifier, you guys scored many successes and the area is more friendly than hostile.

Healing

Libertas upon a successful smarts check can make a natural healing roll at +2 minus any wound penalties. This bypasses the golden hour rule.

There is one more vial behind the one Libertas finds just incase someone else wants to drink it. Just remember if Libertas fails his smarts roll it is poison!

Z, so she will need a healing roll, or magic healing. Or i suppose both. Make your roll at +1 this factors in her wound modifiers, Rene's equipment, and her own roll to assist.

Z shared dream

unconscious and bleeding out is no way to go for a soldier of such skill and courage. Leaving the coalition and following your own beleifs has been perhaps the most difficult choice you have ever made. To be a lab rat, or a person? Provide a brief narative of the instance that brought the choice to the forefront of your life. At the end of the narative give a vigor roll at -1 ( this accounts for the wound penalties and the devices helpful bonus to a natural healing roll). On a success you heal 1 wound as the body and mind push through the pain. This experience will be visible to the party through the magic of the device on her head.

The asassin

The would be asassin lurks nearby, Firehawks skill in smoking him out has left him at a disadvantage. To those that go after him you will find a desperate man on your hands. Non other than the one armed Vick the real lead singer of Dres Marbles Left. He is armed with a unique long sword and a body armor capable keeping his movements quiet and it uses his natural charisma to confound and confuse making him nigh impossible to find. Should one lone figure go after him it is a -4 quick combat, should 2-3 heroes seek him out it is a -2 quick combat. If he is left alone a notice at -2 should be made to ensure he does not surprise anyone.

TW dream

To ensure the fix max applied sticks, a TW needs to make a tw roll at -2 and it is permenately fixed. Should this not be done or the roll failed, gm may roll a 1d4, on a 4 something catastrophic will happen.

Blood Ritual

This ritual takes about 5 minutes or so complete. It involves each person participating to cut themselves and then together drip the blood into the basin. Make a spirit roll or suffer 1 wound as the dagger tries to draw out more than you bargined for. On a critfailure roll 1d4 wounds, as yes this can kill you.

Cantrell

The Dossier in your hand allows you to read a fairly detailed report of abilities and names of the black company members you are hunting. Take a look at the character sheets in the black company section and feel free to give some narative on what strikes you about each member.

Ok it is all ready for you. You can pretty much do 1 thing, although finding the healing potion and doing something else is possible... The scene lasts for about 10 minutes. At the end of your post or at the very least Cantrells you must provide narative as to which door you choose. I would assume you would choose Nadine and Alex, but the choice is yours. Splitting the party is also possible, but know that Viggo and the juicers are meant for the whole group.

Libertas frowns at Rene, snarking a bit. "They're goggles, not glasses." He goes over to the shelf ans starts rifling through the potions--the system she uses for organizing them is instantly transparent to him, and he quickly selects the two that can mend injuries. He quaffs the first without even bothering to taste-test, and nods as his wound stops bleeding--the scars are still there for the moment, and it's tender as hell, but otherwise, he should be good to go.

And go he does, dropping the second white bottle into hisarmor's pouches as he does. He hands his Bee Well wand to Bane. "I'm, outta juice, so I'll let you do the honors for Z, and anyone else who got hurt in the fight, if they need it." Then he goes into the other room and starts working on the panel, the extra arm on his armor being used to reach into some tight spots.

Five minutes later, he emerges. "Max, you did amazing work--I basically just needed to sodder a few things in place, and it was good to go." He looks around to see how the others are doing.

**********

Flashback to 4 minutes ago.

Really, Max did an amazing job--Lib barely had to tweak anything at all to get it nice and solid. Pity he wasn't billing... Oh. I spy with my goggled eyes.... The suit of LLW Armor is fantastic, of course, but just impossible to walk out with. And the TK Revolver is nice, but his own is better. But... two Shadow Cloaks, AND a Communication Band? Screw it. The Band is small; he can pouch that with no trouble, and does so. The Cloaks... Would taking both be pushing it? Decisions, decisions... Think fast, genius. And think fast he does.

He folds the two cloaks together in something resembling an origami triangle, then tucks both down the front of the armor, and makes sure the communication band is snuggly at the bottom of the pouch. Then he walks out, shouting his compliments to Max as he does so.

Q1/19 Adventure Cards: Seize the Day - The character acts as if he had drawn a Joker this combat round.Lucky Break - Play this card to completely negate the damage from one attack.Mechanical Malfunction - A device malfunctions in some way: guns jam, bow strings break, etc. The device can be fixed by a Repair roll at -4 and 10 minutes work.Epiphany - Something you never understood before suddenly “clicks.” You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Enemy (PLAYED Q2-18): Get a Personal Nemesis. Until resolved, draw one extra Adventure Card each Session.

Markus advances while letting his cybernetic hearing implant detect the telltale sound of the assassin's heart. Once found, he signals Firehawk where he is, so he can deal with the "nuisance" with vengeance.

Agility d10, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d6 (d12+2 w/Armor), Vigor d6
Charisma: 0; Pace: 6 (+2 w/Armor); Parry: 5; Toughness: 14 (7); Strain 12/12
Notice d8+2 (+2 Sight and Hearing based), Languages (Euro, American, Dragonese/Elven, and more) d12+2, Knowledge (Common) -2, Stealth d8
Hindrances (Major) Clueless: -2 to Common Knowledge, (Minor) Quirk: Does not socialize or trust non-humans, Cautious: Never makes rash decisions and likes to plot things out in detail
Adventure Deck Cards:Love Interest: Play on a nonplayer character to encourage a romantic interest for your hero. The target helps to the best of her abilities, but may frequently cause trouble as well.Sudden Death: Your hero must do or say something that gives his foes pause. All foes within 12” lose their next action.Parley: All characters cease fighting and listen to the hero speak for at least 30 seconds. Others may only take defensive actions during this time. This has no effect on beasts and other creatures that cannot understand the speaker.
Bennies: 2
Wounds: 0
Armor: Triax T-11 Enhanced: +7 Armor and +2 Toughness, as well as providing Full Environmental Protection

Max grits his teeth. "Looks like Markus and Hot Wings have the interloper cornered. Make it hot, Firehawk!" He turns to Rene."If getting your executive back gets us over to Nadine and Alex that much quicker, let's get on with it. Hope he doesn't mind dog boy blood. Just as well. I'll draw that guppy Viggo out, get him riled up, and fillet him like a flippin' bass. Me and Nadine will turn him into tempura." Max takes a hold of the blade and runs it across his hand.

Spirit

Spirit 1d6 = 2: 2

Wild die Spirit 1d6 = 3: 3

Amped up a little from the sight of a pack of villains and fishbait preparing to carve up his precious Nadine, Max cuts a little deeper than he intended. "FLEAS, that hurt! Arggh! The wife and kid better be worth it. Oooh, Viggo, when I get Nadine's hands on you..."
Max prepares to squeeze his blood into the bowl as directed.

Epiphany: Something you never understood before suddenly "clicks." You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Boom! Head Shot: You may ignore any Called Shot penalties on your next ranged attack.Rally: Play to cause all allies in sight/hearing to immediately lose their Shaken status.

When she spares his life, Bane nods in appreciation and solemnly says "Thank you." When she asks for volunteers, Bane doesn't even hesitate as the blade is offered and pierces his hand along the out side of his left hand.

While the dagger didn't seem to affect him, he did notice the color draining from Max's fur. After everyone who was going to participate in the ritual does so, Bane will use Lib's wand to heal everyone around him.

"Ah, that's much better. Now let's see what we can do about this assailant trapped in here with us." Bane says after healing all who were hurt. He then tunes into the mystical world around them, examining the different magical auras he sees.

Spellcasting Exalted Detect Arcana 1

1d10 = 1: 1
Wild Die 1d6 = 1: 1

It's too much!!! There's too many! I can't see!"Agh! Bane cries out in equal parts frustration and pain as he develops a headache and his nose starts to bleed. There were simply too many mystical auras to see at once that it overloaded his senses. The headache passes after a few moments as he stops his nose from bleeding, making sure the blood lands on his clothing only..

Firehawk swings his head back and forth, looking for the invisible assassin in the smoky psychic haze he had created. As Markus follows, Firehawk sees the human suddenly freeze and give a subtle jerk of the head which draws his attention to the end of a nearby bookshelf. For a brief moment Firehawk could see the outline of the assassin as the smoke swirled around its armor.There!
He dives at the smoke sheathed shadow. At the last moment the killer brings his jade sword up to parry Firehawk's blow in a jumpy, flashing arc, as if the sword itself was eager to help parry the burster's blow. The weapons clash against each other, filling the Lyn-Srial's ears with the hiss of burning acid. This parry was in vain however, as the momentum of Firehawk's dive knocks the mysterious killer to the ground with a crash. With one of his clawed talons, Firehawk pins the killer to the ground as his sword comes down to halt just under the prone figure's neck. A quick kick from his other taloned foot prevents the killer from retrieving the hissing green blade that tumbled from his grip.

"Yield, or die. I care not which you choose." He pins him to the ground until Markus comes to help secure the prisoner.

Rene wrote:" One of my executive board members was killed today... Your actions directly lead to his death. He was a coward, and I am sure more, but he has a young daughter and a wife I am fond of." She pulls from the shelf, a silver basin and a red handeled dagger. " His death was not more than a few hours, and can be reversed by a short ritual." She places the bowl and dagger on a small table near the 13th, " I require 3 of you to cut your self and donate a small portion of your life to the bowl. Be warry for the dagger is thirsty and can, if left unchecked, take more. But this will save his essence and restore life into his body. I have also seen men changed when brought back, the selfish turn hero, the good turned evil... Sometimes the life blood of those who so choose to participate impart qualities into the vessel."

"Hold!" Firehawk shrieks in his loud birdly baritone as he returns from neutralizing the assassin with Markus. "You say your aim is to resurrect some cowardly executive to spare his family from undue grief? I make a counter offer. Earlier tonight I was tricked into killing a child who was being used for guard duty in the sniper's nest atop the AC's compound. Their security forces used a mercenary mind melter to force children - CHILDREN!" he thunders, "- to fight for them. If you are willing to go through this ritual to resuscitate this executive of yours, then you should be willing to revive an innocent child caught up in your corporate intrigues!" His eyes bore into Rene, so she knows he is deadly serious. "In return, I give you not only the opportunity to have a clean conscience for the sins of the AC in all this mess," Firehawk shoves the bound captive to the ground at Rene's feet. "...but also the would-be assassin who just tried to kill you. I will provide as much blood as you need to revive the boy."

If Rene refuses, he will threaten to incinerate everything of value in the vault.

Markus, with his Vibro-Knife in hand, arrives to help secure the prisoner."I don't think he will cooperate. Let's finish him and continue with our task." - He says coldly, approaching the knife to the assassin's neck, trying to intimidate him.
Persuasion: 3 (plus some bonus, I hope, as he ACTUALLY will kill him if he doesn't cooperate quickly)

Agility d10, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d6 (d12+2 w/Armor), Vigor d6
Charisma: 0; Pace: 6 (+2 w/Armor); Parry: 5; Toughness: 14 (7); Strain 12/12
Notice d8+2 (+2 Sight and Hearing based), Languages (Euro, American, Dragonese/Elven, and more) d12+2, Knowledge (Common) -2, Stealth d8
Hindrances (Major) Clueless: -2 to Common Knowledge, (Minor) Quirk: Does not socialize or trust non-humans, Cautious: Never makes rash decisions and likes to plot things out in detail
Adventure Deck Cards:Love Interest: Play on a nonplayer character to encourage a romantic interest for your hero. The target helps to the best of her abilities, but may frequently cause trouble as well.Sudden Death: Your hero must do or say something that gives his foes pause. All foes within 12” lose their next action.Parley: All characters cease fighting and listen to the hero speak for at least 30 seconds. Others may only take defensive actions during this time. This has no effect on beasts and other creatures that cannot understand the speaker.
Bennies: 2
Wounds: 0
Armor: Triax T-11 Enhanced: +7 Armor and +2 Toughness, as well as providing Full Environmental Protection

The invisible assiasin is clearly Vick the lead singer for Dres Marbles Left. He squirms under the pressure from Firehawk.Seeing his country man near he trying to sollicit help against the firery bird. " Markus, brother... You know they cannot live, Humans populated this world and humans need to survive. The AC brings more and more of other worlds into ours, they must be stopped." The desperate would be assasin breaks down emotionally, " I am all that is left from our band, murder wraiths came at us for preserving humanity. Through skill, this armor, and Scheele's Triumph I alone escaped. This AC brings the universe down on us. Brother, please..." Despite Firehawk's grip Vick manages to toss a side arm pistol towards Markus. It skitters to the germans feet. The Triax R44, a prototype Markus has heard rumor of. This rail gun speed bullet when put to the head or the vitals is just about a garantee to kill.

OOC Comments

I'll post Rene's response, later on as I get a chance. Giving Markus a chance to kill players must come first.

Cantrell bristles at Rene's attitude, and the demand that the murderous executive -- who at the very least was willing to commit multiple instances of manslaughter -- be resurrected. But she holds her tongue for the moment and studies the dossiers on the Black Company.

Better to be prepared, and make a decision with all the available knowledge, she thinks, as the other team members fan out to leverage their own abilities where they are most valuable.

Keeping tabs on the action via comms, Cantrell quickly thumbs through the files, scanning and transmitting them to the rest of the team via her armor's electronics.

<<Bit of a mixed bag here, folks. Couple of Headhunters, Carlos and Alecto. Carlos started out human, he's a Coalition deserter known for wielding some experimental plasma tech he stole when he went AWOL. Real nasty bastard, looks like he was assigned to a CS terror squad that torched a couple villages in the Tolkeen campaign.>>

<<The other purely physical threat is this Grackletooth mechanic, uh ... Thrudh. Big bastard, lugs around a rocket launcher and some alien plasma cannon that looks nasty. Likes explosives ... and it looks like he drives the groups modified Mountaineer, which is almost a match for Silver.>>

<<Things get weirder on the arcane side of the ledger. There's a twisted dwarf Techno-Wizard, Hans Greuber-- I've heard some awful things about that one. He's got some enchanted armor and a modified P-Beam cannon that sound like the sorts of things we'll want to drop some heavy ordinance on quickly.>>

<<Then there's Gargamel, some shapeshifting Federation of Magic terrorist with magic armor, a magic blade and a magic ... flying boat. Seems very melee-oriented, so heavy fire at range should put him down.>>

<<Last and ... what in all of hells? Um, okay, the final member of the group is a talking psionic cat named Sammie. I don't even guys ... Just shoot it.>>

Firehawk returns as Cantrell finishes skimming through the Black Company files. She nods grimly when he makes his demands of Rene.

"I agree 100 percent -- the widow and kid of your administrator are better off without the influence of a sick of shit that's willing to run over children to save his own hide. But if you're set on bringing him back, the kid Charlie took gets brought back, too. And your board member is going to take the kid in and make sure he has a good life. If he doesn't, I'll vaporize his brains a second time."

Seeing Rene nod in acceptance of the bargain, Cantrell waits for Max and Bane to cut their own palms with the ritual knife, then takes it in hand. The blood has already disappeared into the thirsty blade as she sets it to her own skin and slices ...

Seemingly alive, the blade slips from the fingers of her right hand and plunges point-first into her left palm, razor-sharp edge slicing through tendon and bone as it impales itself through the length of her forearm. She falls to her knees as whatever is in the blade claws at her soul, the darkness growing at the edge of her vision. She fights back, even as the hunger feeds on her strength and determination.

Too much left ... to do ... she thinks as finally she feels the blade's hunger sated, fat with the essence of her resolve.

Then she slumps over, unconscious, as the vault's red door fades to black.

The magic from the wand heals most of the damage done by the dagger (heals two wounds). Bane will make her comfortable while he goes to try and help with the assassin (see previous post by me).

He comes back with a headache and a nose bleed that subsides with time. Once gone, he will wake Cantrell and gather the rest of the team to make an talk with the team as a whole. "We have a hard decision before us here. When we leave out of here, we have to choose one of two doors. One leads us to where the Black Company are, the other to the radio station where Viggo and his goons are trying to break into Nadine. I doubt we'd be able to handle the Black company fast enough that we'd be able to get to Nadine before Viggo breaks into her and gets Alex. I have unresolved issues with Viggo, plus his crew are raising ten kinds of hell in the city."

Bane pauses before continuing on. "However we can't ignore the Black Company either. With all the ruckus we made in the lobby, chances are that they will have or will soon hear about it, not to mention if we go after Viggo first. So I would not be surprised in the least if we go after Viggo and lose our shot capturing the Black Company. If we go for BC first, we'll probably lose Nadine, although we have something to replace her with, I know Max won't think it's as good no matter if it was or not. But more importantly we'll probably be losing Alex to Viggo. But we have all heard the reports of what BC did, and that is why we are here, but we also have to consider events beyond the scope of our mission as well."

Bane pauses again as he leans on a table and lowers his head for a moment in contemplation. "As hard as this is for me to say, and as much as I want to take Viggo down once and for all, I say we go after BC first.

Last edited by Bane on Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Max watches the wound on his hand seal up as Bane waves Libertas' magic wand. He helps Cantrell to her feet. "No going anywhere, Top Dog. We're gonna need your help pretty soon." He passes the modified TX-26 pistol to her as she regains her feet.
Max listens as Bane considers the options before the 13th. He shakes his head vigorously. "If we leave Nadine and Alex to Viggo's designs, we'll have to see about a third resurrection. Absolutely not. The stats on the BC read like a kill squad with heavy armament. Even if we wanted to take the Black Company on first, doing so without Nadine in our corner is suicide. Besides, Rene said the BC is in the middle of a chase. We have nothing we can use to keep up, depending on where this door dumps us." Max shakes his head. "I owe a debt to the Legion, and burning down the murderers of the 2nd SET is high priority. But I dragged Alex out of Silver Bluff with promises of making a difference in the world and learning from the Legion. I cannot...and WILL not...abandon him to that murderous jellyfish. If I have to go alone to take them down, I will."

Epiphany: Something you never understood before suddenly "clicks." You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Boom! Head Shot: You may ignore any Called Shot penalties on your next ranged attack.Rally: Play to cause all allies in sight/hearing to immediately lose their Shaken status.

Libertas listens to Bane, and then Max, and then slowly shakes his head at the D'Norr. "Sorry, I can't go along with that, Bane. If it was just Nadine and swapping in the new bot, maybe, but I never want to be part of a company that abandons their own--and Alex is one of us, even with that possession crap he's got to deal with. We miss this chance at the BC, we can make new ones, and capture them later. We let Viggo have Alex... Well, having to resurrect the kid might be the good outcome. For all we know, Viggo's shopping for an apprentice. Imagine him coming back next week, aged 20 years, gone psychotic and blaming us for all of it. Temporal wizards are nasty mojo, top to bottom, and we need to put that chum-sucking piece of shit down now, while there's still any chance at all."

Q1/19 Adventure Cards: Seize the Day - The character acts as if he had drawn a Joker this combat round.Lucky Break - Play this card to completely negate the damage from one attack.Mechanical Malfunction - A device malfunctions in some way: guns jam, bow strings break, etc. The device can be fixed by a Repair roll at -4 and 10 minutes work.Epiphany - Something you never understood before suddenly “clicks.” You gain a d6 in any skill you previously did not have for the remainder of this game session.Enemy (PLAYED Q2-18): Get a Personal Nemesis. Until resolved, draw one extra Adventure Card each Session.

Jude tensed with concern as Zieja was beaten down, and was relieved when Rene called off the fighting and dismissed her Amazons. He watched Libertas make the door reappear so they could leave, and eyed the bowl and dagger for the ritual warily, and eyed the Black Company members looting Zieja’s room and disposing of Vector Inlay’s body. Jude didn’t know what to believe about this Geist person, but Vector had seemed truly concerned about the orphans and the money they had raised, even if that money wasn’t here in the vault like they had been told. Was he in on the scheme? Well, they couldn’t get answers now, thanks to the Black Company. The situation with Nadine wasn’t much better.

Mostly he was concerned for Zieja. Rene cleared the desk and laid her out, taking off her armor. Jude was a bit too preoccupied with the way Zieja’s shirt, damp with sweat, molded to her curves to notice the tattoo.

As Markus and Firehawk raced off to deal with the assassin, Cantrell read through the file, before joining Max and Bane at the ritual bowl. Jude hesitated. He didn’t particularly want the douche resurrected, but he had a wife and kid. But there was the issue of him possibly getting a part of Jude. What if he got the...wrong part? What if Jude made him worse? What if he became a...womanizer, a huge, philandering dickhead? Or a coward who runs away from the woman he loves when it gets tough?

No, the man was better off with Cantrell, Max, and Bane. They were better people than he was. Someone else needed Jude’s assistance more.

“I’ll help,” Jude said, walking up to Rene at the table where she stood over the unconscious body of Zieja. Jude unbuckled his own armor, letting it fall to the floor so he would have more freedom. He peeled off his own sweat-damp shirt and dropped it onto the floor, revealing his tight, lean, muscled torso that was usually hidden beneath the armor.

Jude pulled out the disinfectant wipes from the surgical kit and scrubbed down as much as he could. Then he took the scissors and cut away the lower portion of Zieja’s top. “So today must have been like a dream,” Jude commented, witty, inane chatter keeping his nervousness at bay. “I mean, surrounded by beautiful warrior women? Nice abs, by the way,” Jude commented, impressed. “And you know what they say about girls with black bras…” he teased as he snapped on some gloves.

Jude gently pressed his fingers into Zieja’s side. “Cracked ribs,” he commented. “Maybe broken. And the way she’s breathing… Pneumothorax,” he said. “We need to reinflate her lung. I’ve done this before.”

Jude dug through the mix of instruments, finding what he needed. “Of course, I used an awl and a drinking straw at the time,” he admitted. “But the guy lived. Until I had to kill him later.”

Jude gently wiped the quickly bruising area on Zieja’s side with the disinfectant. “This is going to bleed,” he commented. Carefully he cut a small incision. Blood welled out, pooling on the desk. Jude inserted the metal tube into the tear in the lung caused by the broken rib, allowing air to inflate it. Then he stitched up the tear. Finally, he secured the rib as much as possible before stitching the incision.

Stepping back, Jude wiped his forearm across his brow. “Okay, that should do it,” he said. He placed his ear over Zieja’s chest, listening to her lung. “Yes. Though she should have some bedrest, I doubt we’ll get the opportunity.”

Jude grabbed a cloth and started to clean up the unconscious woman as Markus and Firehawk returned with the assassin. “Wait, isn’t he...that singer guy?” Jude shook his head. “This just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Is everyone we’ve met in this town not who they say they are?”

Jude watched Vick slide the pistol to Marcus. He tensed, waiting for Markus’ decision, keenly conscious that his gear was out of reach on the floor, and he wasn’t wearing his armor.

And then Cantrell went down.

“Oh, bloody hell…” Jude remarked, but Bane seemed to have things covered with Libertas’ little healing stick, even as the techno-wizard returned to join them.

“It sounds like the Black Company has heavy firepower, if that dossier is right. Without Nadine, we’re at a disadvantage,” Jude had to agree with the others. “Besides, the Black Company doesn’t know that we are here after them. It might be best to surveil them, try and catch them separated around town, maybe quiet-like.”

As Zieja started to come around, Jude flashed her a smile. “How are you feeling, beautiful?” he asked her. “You might need this.” He handed her his shirt.

Markus wrote:"I don't think he will cooperate. Let's finish him and continue with our task."

Firehawk jerks his head toward Markus. "No! He is more valuable to us alive, don't you see? If Rene can -" His words are cut off by those of the DML frontman as he also hears something skitter across the floor and stop at Markus' feet.

Vick wrote:" Markus, brother... You know they cannot live, Humans populated this world and humans need to survive. The AC brings more and more of other worlds into ours, they must be stopped." The desperate would be assasin breaks down emotionally, " I am all that is left from our band, murder wraiths came at us for preserving humanity. Through skill, this armor, and Scheele's Triumph I alone escaped. This AC brings the universe down on us. Brother, please..."

Firehawk watches Markus examine the pistol, but keeps his sword point at Vick's throat. He wouldn't. Would he?"Hey Markus. Do me a favor, will you?" he says in a low, calm tone. "One squaddie to another? If I don't make it out of here tonight, just make sure my share of the money makes it to those orphans, ok?"

Cantrell sits up, revived by the magic of Bane and Libertas, and murmurs thanks. She sits quietly for a moment and watches the invisible nanites finish stitching the partially healed wound in her palm, leaving a thick silver scar that seems to glisten strangely in the light.

Still groggy, she notices Jude is shirtless, and Z's bruised and bloody form is covered by even less. But the CS deserter -- commando, even based on that tattoo -- seems to be breathing easily now. Can't wait til she wakes up and sees Jude grinning at her.

When she picks up on the conversation about which door to take, she shakes her head grimly, clearing the last of the cobwebs.

"The Black Company can wait. They'll pay for their sins, but they don't seem to be about to murder anyone at the moment. We found them once and we can find them again. But two resurrections and a couple of near misses is enough for one day, and we're not leaving Alex to that damn shark. And as others have pointed out, we'll need Nadine to go after the Black Company."

She gets to her feet just as Markus and Firehawk track down Vick. She hears the exchange on her comms as the singer slides his gun across the floor. Her hand goes to her hip and the new pistol holstered there - she's tempted to run in and end the traitorous wretch herself, but she decides it has to be Markus. He's going to have to make the choice: team and the Legion, or a countryman and shared hate.

Markus picks up the Triax R44, and weights it in his hand."A beauty. No DBee magicks, no wizardry, no alien technology. Just pure human ingenuity, bravery, and blood. Made for killing the enemies of humanity."
He looks at his countryman, and then at the DBee on top of him."What use is saving the world if we lose it to the "good" DBees immediately after? How long will it take them to turn against us after we "defeat" the bad guys?"
He points the gun at Firehawk."The Orphans. Yes, they need the credits. They live in a world populated by monsters. They need every help they can if they are to recover the earth. Oh yes, I'll make sure they get your credits. And mine."
He starts wondering. Why the Black company deserted? Why do they turn against the "wonderful" Tomorrow Legion? Would they have realized the DBee corruption invading it? Would they offer a better chance for humanity's victory against the DBees invaders?
Maybe he needs to open a backchannel communication line to them. Maybe...
Then Cantrell's voice, on the radio, interrupted his thoughts.
No... the Black company was as infiltrated as the Tomorrow Legion. DBees everywhere."Damn! How I hate America!"
Slowly he points the gun to Vick's forehead."Cooperate, Landsmann, or die. Last chance."

OOC Comments

He means it. He undresses his soul and tells them EVERYTHING, or Markus will use the R44 for the first time on him. But,
if he cooperates, he won't let anyone harm him.

Agility d10, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d6 (d12+2 w/Armor), Vigor d6
Charisma: 0; Pace: 6 (+2 w/Armor); Parry: 5; Toughness: 14 (7); Strain 12/12
Notice d8+2 (+2 Sight and Hearing based), Languages (Euro, American, Dragonese/Elven, and more) d12+2, Knowledge (Common) -2, Stealth d8
Hindrances (Major) Clueless: -2 to Common Knowledge, (Minor) Quirk: Does not socialize or trust non-humans, Cautious: Never makes rash decisions and likes to plot things out in detail
Adventure Deck Cards:Love Interest: Play on a nonplayer character to encourage a romantic interest for your hero. The target helps to the best of her abilities, but may frequently cause trouble as well.Sudden Death: Your hero must do or say something that gives his foes pause. All foes within 12” lose their next action.Parley: All characters cease fighting and listen to the hero speak for at least 30 seconds. Others may only take defensive actions during this time. This has no effect on beasts and other creatures that cannot understand the speaker.
Bennies: 2
Wounds: 0
Armor: Triax T-11 Enhanced: +7 Armor and +2 Toughness, as well as providing Full Environmental Protection

unconscious and bleeding out is no way to go for a soldier of such skill and courage. Leaving the coalition and following your own beleifs has been perhaps the most difficult choice you have ever made. To be a lab rat, or a person? Provide a brief narative of the instance that brought the choice to the forefront of your life. At the end of the narative give a vigor roll at -1 ( this accounts for the wound penalties and the devices helpful bonus to a natural healing roll). On a success you heal 1 wound as the body and mind push through the pain. This experience will be visible to the party through the magic of the device on her head.

The Dream

Sixteen year old Zieja Loni Kashbrook runs across the training field. Anger and Frustration plaguing her mind. It’s not fair.

Tonight is a Volleyball game vs the Chi Town Team. Z hasn’t seen Cee in almost a year. Cee lives in the Chi Town mega city and is never allowed to send messages to Zieja. Last year the two kissed for the first time. She wished it hadn’t been on the last night Cee was here. Thinking about that night had helped Zieja get through some tuff times. Tonight would be the first time they got to see each other, and the Chi Town Team would be here at Lone Star for a week. This time Z was determined to get a kiss in on day one. This was totally not fair.

Sgt Brown knew she had been at school all day. And had a game tonight. He knew she was looking forward to the game, she would never have admitted to Brown that she was looking forward to seeing Cee also. Sgt Brown was a total dickhead. He was mean. He constantly chided Zieja and never had anything good to say to her. Now he insisted she run a full ten miles in combat gear before he would let her leave for the day. It was not fair.

Other kids never went to combat training after school. They went home to moms and dads. Not Z. All she had was a commanding mother, the head of Lone Star, General Loni Kashbrook, who always insisted Z do more, try harder. Mother loved her but, she was always gone at work it felt like. The fact that she looked nearly identical to Z - just older didn’t surpass Zieja either. She was smart enough to know that she was a genetic copy of her mother. Her and Uncle...Dr. Bradford had made her from mother’s DNA. Neither had explained that one to her yet. It was a forbidden topic. Not fair, always told to practice patience and told when you finish Commando School all will be reviled.

Right now running as hard as she could Zieja didn’t much want to be in Commando School. Stupid Sgt Brown, driving in his old Jeep next to her, yelling at her to go faster or he would make her do the ten mile course twice. Grinding her teeth and pumping her arms and legs as fast as she could she hated the Sgt.

The last mile passed quickly. Actually Zieja reflected, Sgt. Brown has been quite and not said anything to her in at least a minute. Strange. As she ran under the overpass, along the paved course, she could see the ending point of the ten mile course only a mile away. Looking to her right as she ran under the overpass she wondered why Sgt Dickhead was not yelling at her. Looking left as she ran she just barely saw the Neural Mace as it hit her in the head.

Blinding light burst across her vision and she stumbled. Hard. Crashing down on the pavement she scuffed her hands, knees and elbows and even got road rash on her chin. Why had Sgt Brown hit her? Even though it hurt, both the Neural Mace and falling down, Zieja was thick headed enough that she pretty much ignored the pain. What upset her most was how she’d look once she next got to see Cee. Her face would be torn up from face planting the road. Totally not fair.

As the effects of the Mace slowly wore off Z started to push herself back up. Hate for Brown flared in her heart, but she already hates him, obviously this was a training thing. She had to get up and finish the last mile of the run. Two thoughts flooded her mind, I want to see Cee tonight and I graduate Commando School next month! I can do this. In a few months I will be out on a Commando Team, no more training and no more school. Fighting for the Coalition to kill the non human scum that has invaded our world.

Almost all the way up off the ground Z felt another hit to her head from the Mace. Falling face first she couldn’t see anything but stars. She tried to move but couldn’t. Every time the effects of the Mace started to wear off she was hit again. It was the only thing that prevented her from realizing what was going on until later.

Groaning Zieja sat up. Sgt Brown stood over her sore body looking smug. He yelled at her to run, to finish the mile or she wouldn’t be going to Volleyball tonight. Z ran, hard, ignoring the pain that raced everywhere in her body.

Arriving at the finish line Sgt Brown told her to go again. As she tore off to run the ten mile course again she thought about how it was unfair and tried to not think about how much she hurt or what Sgt Brown has done.

The bad news was that she didn’t get to go to the game and see Cee that night, she would tomorrow, but even then her face, after healing some, looks bad. The good news was that when she arrived at the finish line, for the second time, there was a different person waiting for her. A woman named Captain Carrol Winters. Captain Winters told Z that she would never have to see Sgt Brown again. Something about how Capt. Winters and her division were always watching and they’d seen the abuse below the overpass. When Z asked if she was going to be working for Winters the woman had laughed no, saying that Zieja wasn’t going to be a Peacekeeper or Spook, her training would see her in a SAMAS power armor or some advanced Deadboy armor defending Lone Star from its outward enemies as a Commando. Captain Winters said her job was defending the CS from its own monsters, like Sgt Brown.

It was the first time Z had ever thought about how humans might be monsters too.

Captain Winters would never know how big an impact she had on Zieja. Z was thankful for the lesson. Even humans may be bad. Defending those that were innocent or good was not a fight just for humans. All beings deserved to be protected.

The night that her Commando Team was ordered to kill some blue children that had escaped a D-Bee holding zone was the night she turned on the CS. As she aimed her sniper rifle down from her hiding place at a grizzled older Cyberknight and prepared to shoot him in his head Zieja found her rifle move to aim at a Commando that was sneaking up on the campsite of the Cyberknight and blue kids.

The Cyberknight took out almost all the Commandos, other than the ones she had blasted. The Cyberknight later stood next to her. He explained that he knew what it felt like. What it meant to break an oath. Sir Seth Merikh thanked Zieja for helping him and the children.

She returned to Lone Star alone. She had told the grizzly knight that she had to return. He had explained to her that he worked for the Tomorrow Legion and fought for all beings that needed protection. Sir Seth also told her that there was a Mercenary group called the Black Company, that she might be interested in working with, they needed a sniper on the team.

Once she returned to Lone Star she checked in her gear and on her way to debriefing, to explain what had happened on the mission, Z took a turn down the wrong hallway.

She left the CS so suddenly that no one realized right away. Finding the Legion a few weeks later she looked up Sir Merikh. He said that the Black Company was currently wanted and he had a place on the 13th SET she could fill. Sir Merikh explained to Zieja that the best way to redeem herself was to keep the members of the 13 alive at all costs.

- AWAKENING

Vigor Roll

Vigor Roll at a -1

1d10-1 = 2: 3

Without warning pain lance into her side and she coughed, waking up, her vision blurry Zieja saw Sgt Brown in front of her.

With almost inhuman speed Zieja grabbed the throat in front of her in a two handed choke. Pulling the stunned Jude closer so she could bite his face Zieja realized where she was. Obviously Jude had saved her. She immediately loosened her death grip on Jude, didn’t bite him and held onto he’s shoulders for stability. Why was he shirtless? Sweaty? Why was he looking at her like that? How much of my clothing did he remove? Was he seriously leaning in at her, she was only holding onto him because of the dizziness. Did he really think she would kiss that handsome face? He’d be the first boy, man, that she had kissed. Was Jude insane? She’d tried to politely explain her preferences in the past to him. What’s with that grin?

Looking around the room Z took it all in. Rene moved to assist the others. Everyone was occupied doing something useful.

Only Jude was paying her any attention. Her fingers slid along the back of Jude’s neck, lightly moving from his shoulders to his hair. Grabbing the back of his head two handed Z pulled him closer and leaned in, her face only a fraction of an inch from his. Her lips lightly brushed his as she quietly said, ”I’m so embarrassed. My job is to protect you all. To keep you all safe. Merikh says you are all good people and destined to do great things. At all costs I’m to keep you all alive. And I failed. I got my ass handed to me. I’m sorry. ... I ... Thank you Jude.”

Leaning in the last fraction of an inch Zieja kissed Jude’s mouth. Suddenly stepping back from Jude she slapped his face. Then kissed him again, her lips playful and wicked on his. Breaking contact with him she slapped Jude again.

Turning away from him, ”That’s the only time Jude.”

- AWAKENING FOR REAL

Zieja opened her eyes and saw Jude looking down at her with a stupid grin on his face, like somehow he had insight on her dream, which of course was impossible. God. He would never let her be if he knew she had dreamed about kissing him.

Zieja gathered her gear and put her armor back on. Better, but still hurting Z moved away from Jude, ”Thank you Jude.”

OOC Comments

No really. That’s the one and only time I will ever write about Z kissing a Player Character. Back to the Combat please!! Lol.

With the threat of Markus seemingly put off for now, Jude turned his attention back to Zieja. The device on her forehead was active now, showing a scene, running, a brutal beating, a betrayal and desertion.

It started to fritz a bit, and Jude said, “I think she’s starting to wake up.” But there seemed to be one more scene. Jude arched an eyebrow, watching the...passionate thanks for his ministrations. Well, that was interesting. And hot.

Jude helped Zieja up off the table as she came around again, helping her with her armor before pulling on his own. “You’re welcome, Z,” Jude said. He gave her a gentle touch on her back before she moved away and said quietly, “Sometimes the protectors need to be protected, too. There is no shame in that.”